Vienna – In a shocking twist, A prominent Charedi millionaire Chaim M. Strulovitz was released from jail yesterday after an Austrian judge granted the 61 year old Strulovitz a conditional sentence allowing him to walk free.
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Strulovitz was arrested in the U.S. Lakewood, New Jersey in June 2008 for running afoul of the Austrian government, and was extradited back to Austria after being on the run for years, and was put on trial.
During the first three days of the trial at the district court in Vienna, Mr. Strulovitz refused to give evidence about the fraud charges dating back to the 90’s. Strulovitz is cited to have said: “According to my jewish religion, I am not allowed to give evidence against anyone else. This is very, very serious for us”
On the fourth day, he pleaded guilty, admitting that he was the head of a conglomerate of firms that defrauded some individuals.
In a mild verdict, which surprised even the best-informed court observers, he was condemned to ten months jail without probation plus twenty months with a probation period of three years. He was set free immediately, since he had already served the sentence in custody. The judged also fined him with $200,000.
The previously iron clad indictment would of seen Strulovitz face a ten year jail sentence.
The sentence was commuted to 30 months in jail of which 20 have been served and the rest served either in investigative detention or rendition.
Mr. Strulovitz a major supporter of Satmar institutions received emotional support from The Satmar rebbe, of Williamsburg Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum Shlita. Mr. Strulovitz was also a strong confidant of the previous Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbauum Zt’l Author Of Beirach Mosha.
Rabbi Tetilbaum expended major efforts and explored different ways to release Strulovitz, including by hiring top lawyers. Nevertheless, everyone feared that the Strulovitz would be sentenced to may years in prison.
Several months ago, Rav Yaakov Ber Teitelbaum, the son of the rebbe and rav of the Sighet beis midrash in Boro Park, and the Horodenka rebbe from Manchester, flew over to assist in the court case.
With the assistance of the renown Williamsburg askan, Rav Moshe David Niederman, the rabbis met with the judge and explained that the Mr. Strulovitz had no intention to cause harm to the country and was deserving of clemency.
During one of the trial hearings, Rav Yaakov Ber surprised the prosecution when he gave a heartrending speech in favor of the defendant. The prosecution agreed to work out a plea bargain with the lawyers, in which he would pay a fine and sit in prison only one year.
Kol Hakovod! Reb Yakov Ber.
Pidyon Sevueim one of the biggest mitzvoes.
Chazak Vamotz.
Boruch Hashem! A yid got out of trouble. I hope same efforts are done for Rubashkin.
Wonderful story! But I hope he will not go back to the no-no business. And for the rabbis: thank you very much for helping a fellow Yid to avoid years of prison.
“The sentence was commuted to 30 months in jail of which 20 have been served and the rest served either in investigative detention or rendition.”
The other way round: 10 have been served and 20 are on probation.
He admitted to a total fraud sum of at least 3 Million euro, taken from at least 43 persons, mainly poor immigrants from south-east Europe who did not speak German well enough to notice.
Mazel Tov !!!
Kudos to the Satmar Rabbi!
Even I don’t agree with him on other issues, I sincerely admire him for his Mesiras nefesh in assisting our fellow jews with legal trouble.
To take his own son and send him off to vienna for a while ONLY to help a fellow yid is amazing!
would they help poor little old me if I was in trouble??
Thank u Satmar rabbi for ur great help! we know everytime a yid needs help there is one address: satmar rabbi (MhrZ”L) ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to help a yid!!!!!!!!
and what happends to the people that he defrauded
do we make a pidyon shevuyim for them ?
or are they the bad guys here
What the hell?????? Maybe if the rebbeim spent more time worrying about real issues and less time on springing admitted criminals out of prison, the world might be a better place.
Did you miss the sentence: “Mr. Strulovitz [is] a major supporter of Satmar institutions…”
#12 - the problem is that you see mesiras nefesh only and not fraud. Why is it ok to defraud ANYBODY even the “government who is not a person”. Why is it so commonplace today? Where is the busha? The money spent on going to Austria and helping the defense should have gone to feed people who are not making it. Go to BP at night and look at Masbia (the local soup kitchen). See how many erliche yidden need food. That’s where money should be going, just saying.
If the Rebbe was a real rebbe he would give Mr. Strulovirz back his “donations” and tel him , “Nem des gelt in geb es tzirik tzi di mentchen fin vemen di hust es geganvet”!!
Am I expected to believe that a sitting judge had ex parte conversations with third parties about a case curently before him? Anyone who believes that happened, please call me. I have some very prime real estate, a bridge across the East River and a certain skyscraper on 34th street, to sell at bargain basement prices.
at least there is someone to turn to now that we lost rabbi glanz.
I hope mr struluovitz will do tshuvah now and not go back to his old ways . lo Signov is one of the 10 comandmants
Truly amazing !!! Why NOT condem these fraudsters ?How many of us in the frum world have been victums of these guys ?Let them seve time in jail as a deterrent to others.
Nonsense this is not pidyon shevueim, keep your nose clean and you will not wind up in jail. I was born in Vienna Pidyon shevueim was carried out before the war by Reb Avruminu’s sister. These chevra are now making shady business. There should not even be a Yid in Vienna
This is the difference between the US goverment and European. The US goverment would ruin his life and make him spend the rest of his life behind bars as if he would have been a murderer or worse. He has a family, he’s not a dope head. He may have been greedy, so is everybody including goverment. That’s why you pay a fine do some time and get back on your feet. CM is a interesting character and society would benefit from having him on the outside more than when he is behind bars.
He was punished accordingly, he paid a fine plus what he owned and now he can get his life back together. The US goverment should learn and they would have a much finer society. Putting someone in jail for life has not proven to reduce crime and is just plain excessive. This is just plain inumane and tourture. Wonder what PMO’s opinion is on this.
How about restitution?
i am personally happy for him..on the other hand what message do we send to our youth? if he wasnt a millionare would he be free now? i am troubled by this story.. i hope he uses his new found freedom to make ammends whatever those might happen to be…how would he feel if he was the victim of financial fraud ( a la madoff for example) ? God’s ways are mysterious..
Pidon Shviyom Is One Of Biggest Mitzvas, Doesn’t Matter Who It Is And Why They Came To Help Him, As Long The Person Is Mzera Yisruel, Should Hashem Pay For Those Who Helpful For Yidisha Kinder M’kol Tiv V’tov !!!
R yakov ber is becomeing a world star for helping others. He is folwing his grandparntes to wake up in the morning and to look around how could I help a yid today , he is true and true his fahers the grand rabi son . Tizka lamtsvos
There are many precedences in austria that religous jews or jews period where given minor sentences for crimes that in the US they would have gotten 5 to15 years. I was personaly involved in a couple of those cases . At the end of the day the court system in Austria is way fairer then the US justice system. And thats the main reason why nearlly 10% of the US population is behind bars half of them for minor infracttiors.
i dont think anyone says he is not guilty of what he did. this isnt the point here. when a yid sits in prison it is the obligation of every yid to help as much as possible to get him out. we all know that neither in europe, nor in the usa does a court equal justice, laws are twisted so much that no one really gets what he/she deserves. the only true Judge is the Ribbono Shel Olam. and He knows what to do about this case of fraud. He knows how much CMS deserves and how much not. none of us know.
i personaly know people who were involved in this case non-stop instrumenting the Satmar Rabbi shlita to send his son and for other to become involved. these people who wer behind it would have done the same for any yid in trouble because they have an endlesss amount of true ahavas yisroel in them.
to all the “holier-than-thous” out there: we are not in a gerenation to sit and judge others. i wish we were all judging ourselves HALF as harsh as we tend to judge strangers.
CMS gave to numerous mosdos all the years. satmar was one of MANY….
I am hearing a lot of applause for these rabbis for helping a fellow yid.
Does anyone at all care about the fact that this man committed such a crime? That he defrauded innocent people?
Rabbi Yakov Ber ! Thank you so much ! you are the best !
we all know that neither in europe, nor in the usa does a court equal justice, laws are twisted so much that no one really gets what he/she deserves.
What does this have to do with anything? So what is that supposed to mean? NOT to have court system because YOU think that things are twisted? Was it twisted here? Where is your evidence? Apparently, even though man is flawed, God STILL wants the nations to have system of laws. Where is the justice in him paying for his crimes and what he did to innocent people? So every time a yid commits crimes we should just bail him out? Would you welcome this yid in your community? Apparently, you should just not judge him right?
So if one day someone swindles me out of what my family needs, I would be more than a little broygez to see all the rachmones flowing to get the early release of the one who did it to us. Do all who applaud ask if he took away someone’s ability to pay their rent, care for a sick child, heat a home?
I don’t understand. So because justice is not perfectly implemented this means what exactly? That this mean should be excepted with open arms? You don’t ‘play God’ by wanting a man that admitted his guilt to be punished as he should, and not have people welcome him with such open arms and be happy that he is free. What would you think if people welcomed OJ Simpson after he was found not guilty? Should we refrain from any judgements against him and applaud the millions he (probably) gave in charities during his years?
BTW do you assume justice gets perverted ALL the time, in every case, with every murder/fraud trial or only when a Jew is being prosecuted?
I’ve yet to see a report of a Jew sitting in jail because HE actually did something.They’re all sitting for someone else, all innocent and we should do the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim. What sick logie. After Mr. S gets out of jail he can continue supporting the Rebbe and the satmars with the money he stole from others. A tzadik!!!!
Sub total what I see from all the comments, no one bashes Reb Zalman Leib becuase the reader is a Chused from Satmar Rabbe Reb Aron, they’re just bashing him cuz he’s a Satmarar! Shame on u! Rubashkin didn’t do crimes? & everybody is trying to help him! Common wake up! What do u think? Rebbe Moshe Leib Sasaver worked on Pidyan Sheveeyam for Tzadikem in jail? He worked for everyone!!! If Reb Zalman & his son Reb Yakov Ber with the Horodanka Ruv were involved in this one, all the credit should be given to them!!! No matter what Mr. S. Did!!! Pidyan Sheveeyam is still a Mitzvah! I can’t take anymore the Sinas Chinom which that’s why we are in Gulas! Yes Tishu B’Av is only cuz of this style of stupid Sinas-Satmar comments! Enough!
“Pidyan Sheveeyam is still a Mitzvah!”
Pidyon shevuim does not apply to criminals who sit in jail because they deserve it, in a state with recognised justice system, without death penalty, with no antisemitic bias.
(In this case, the problem seems to be that there is a philosemitic bias).
If you say that this is Pidyon shevuim, you make fun of the Torah that you claim to love so much.
Second: Mr. S was very careful not to recognise any claim (that he will have to give money back)
Now what is this according to torah? Is this really kehalacha to take money from poor, desperate people, taking advantage of the fact that they do not speak nor read the local language (Le cheresch lo tekalel, lefnei iver al tasim michschol), and never paying it back?
What was the thing about adding 1/5 if one stole? What is the thing about being sold for the money by the beith din if you cannot give back the money?
So really: the Torah would not let him get away with this. Why should he get away in Austrian justice system.
I agree that a criminal also needs a sanegor who helps him. But to all those who say that this was pidyon shevuim, I reply: “Ha merachem al achzarim, sofo le achzer al rachamim”.
By the way: can you imagine the scenes when the bank claimed a huge mortgage back from a poor immigrant who had never seen the flat upon which the mortgage was taken out in his name? Do you imagine how many people were destroyed by this, how their wives suffered? They were not jewish? You do not care? Then you are simply not human.
This is a disgrace. I am sick and tired of these ‘frum’ criminals asking for help. Lo signov and chillul Hashem is not in their Torah, just their phony, incorrect interpretation of ‘pidyon shvuyim’. It is called pidyon shvuyim for reason. It is not called ‘pidyon ganovim’!!!! Think about it!!
They need an extended ‘vacation’ in jail, which they should have to pay/work for too!