Semen Domnitser, $57.3 Million Holocaust Claims Conference Fraud, New York 2013

Former Holocaust Claims Conference Director Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for $57.3 Million Fraud.

New York, NY - Semen Domnitser, a former employee of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc. (the “Claims Conference”), was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to eight years in prison for his participation in a $57 million fraud scheme that targeted programs administered by the Claims Conference. The programs were established to aid the survivors of Nazi persecution.

Domnitser, a former Director of the relevant programs from 1999 to 2010, was convicted on May 8, 2013, of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of mail fraud, following a four-week trial.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As the highest ranking insider to participate in this despicable fraud against the Holocaust Claims Conference, Mr. Domnitser played an integral role in the scheme by processing fraudulent applications to the Conference and turning a profit of thousands of dollars for himself. With today’s sentence, he will be held to account for victimizing Holocaust survivors by diverting funds meant to help them to his own pocket and contributing to this $57 million scheme.”

The Claims Conference, a not-for-profit organization that provides assistance to victims of Nazi persecution, supervises and administers several funds that make reparation payments to victims of the Nazis, including “the Hardship Fund” and “the Article 2 Fund,” both of which are funded by the German government. Applications for disbursements through these funds are processed by employees of the Claims Conference’s office in Manhattan, New York, and the employees are supposed to confirm that the applicants meet the specific criteria for payments under the funds.

The Hardship Fund pays a one-time payment of approximately $3,500 to victims of Nazi persecution who evacuated the cities in which they lived and were forced to become refugees. Members of the conspiracy submitted fraudulent applications for people who were not eligible. Many of the recipients of fraudulent funds were born after World War II, and at least one person was not even Jewish. Some members of the conspiracy recruited other individuals to provide identification documents, such as passports and birth certificates, which were then fraudulently altered and submitted to corrupt insiders at the Claims Conference, who then processed those applications. When the applicants received their compensation checks, they kept a portion of the money and passed the rest back up the chain, to their recruiters and others involved in the scheme.

From the investigation to date, the Claims Conference has determined that at least 3,839 Hardship Fund applications appear to be fraudulent. These applications resulted in a loss to the Hardship Fund of approximately $12.3 million.

Semen Domnitser, Real full name or legal entity name, exact criminal charges: conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud, City and state: New York, NY, EXACT DATE with month/day/year: May 8, 2013, Sentence or outcome: 8 years in prison, Dollar amounts where applicable: $57.3 million.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-holocaust-claims-conference-director-sentenced-eight-years-prison-573-million