Following an extreme incident that Betzedek handled
successfully, the legal rights organization is alerting heads
of institutions of possible delays in contributions arriving
from abroad.
Numerous institutions have been experiencing delays regarding
funds sent from abroad, but very few are prepared to tangle
with banks here in Israel, which cite various pretexts for
the delays.
Every month the Friends association of a certain, very
distinguished yeshiva here in Israel transfers funds from
donations raised abroad directly to the yeshiva's account at
a major bank, which should take no more than one business
day. Recently the Friends of the yeshiva in the US sent
donations to the yeshiva, but the money was not credited to
the yeshiva's account for several days.
When the roshei yeshiva contacted the bank they were in for a
real surprise: the clerks revealed that the funds had been
held up because the money was said to have been transferred
to Israel through a terror organization. The bank clerks
refused to provide further details, claiming that the law
prohibited them from sharing the information.
The baffled roshei yeshiva turned to Betzedek. Director Rabbi
Mordechai Green contacted the Authority for the Prevention of
Money-Laundering at the Justice Ministry as well as the
police, but both denied having issued any directive to stop
the transfer, and had not even received any report from the
bank in question regarding the yeshiva.
Betzedek then wrote a letter to the bank management demanding
that the money, which was earmarked for paying the stipends
of the avreichim, be returned immediately. In the
letter he noted that the bank is solely responsible for
withholding the money and therefore may be liable for the
losses and damages incurred through the illegal delay of the
contributions.
In response, and following evasive efforts, the bank
management decided to credit the yeshiva's account and even
offered compensation for the exchange rate difference between
the time the money arrived from abroad and the time it was
eventually converted into shekels.
After conducting an inquiry Betzedek notes that unfortunately
this is a widespread ploy and institute heads should react
immediately to any illogical delay in transferring money from
abroad.
