Dear Readers:
We have said it before and we will say it again: Watch the charities to which you donate your hard earned money. The mitzvah you think you are performing may not be a mitzvah at all but a way to make the private bank accounts of some very unsavory Haredim grow.
DO NOT DONATE TO CHABAD UK! It is an organization allegedly unaffiliated with the Chabad Organization, if the associated article is to be believed. It is apparently a scam, a sham, an organization funded by illegal drug sales and unaccountable for its finances and its money. In addition, it is allegedly not affiliated with Chabad so if it is your plan to donate to Chabad, make sure you have the correct affiliated entity.
Charedi father and son accused of laundering millions through illegal sale of Viagra
A Charedi father and son pair laundered millions of pounds from the illegal sale of Viagra and other prescription medications through Jewish charities, a court has heard.
Edward Cohen, 67, and his 38-year-old son, David Cohen, are accused of funnelling “huge sums of money” through an international network of firms, bank accounts and currency exchanges.
Investigators claim £10.2 million of a total income of £18.7 million between 2012 and 2014 can be identified as laundered money, Southwark Crown Court heard.
The pair’s trial, expected to last 12 weeks, began last Monday.
David Cohen, of Ashbourne Avenue, in Temple Fortune, denies supplying false or misleading information to the Charity Commission, becoming concerned in criminal property, acquiring criminal property and theft.
Edward Cohen, of Paget Road, Stamford Hill, denies supplying false or misleading information to the Charity Commission, two counts of becoming concerned in criminal property, acquiring criminal property and theft.
Police officers raided the community of Chabad UK – which is an entirely separate charity from Chabad Lubavitch UK, and not part of the official Chabad movement – on Oldhill Street, in Stamford Hill, in September 2014.
As well as seizing electronics owned by the defendants, prosecutor James Dawes QC said they found “thousands of pages” of documents allegedly linking the charity to the sale of medication to customers in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.
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