Community Magazine May 2012

EMBEZZLER’S ACCOMPLICE Samuel is the president of a soup kitchen which distributes food to poor and needy residents in Jerusalem. He regularly travels to the U.S. to fundraise for this worthy cause, and he set up a telemarketing network to contact smaller donors to help raise funds. Since Samuel was an Israeli citizen, he appointed Albert president of the American organization, and entrusted the collected funds with him and with Jerry, a certified public accountant. Samuel instructed Albert to wire collected funds to cover the monthly budget, and to safeguard the balance. After many years of operation, Samuel detected a small discrepancy in one of the wire transfers and began to investigate the matter. After doing some research, he discovered that over the years about $895,000 was wired to a several recipients he did not recognize. With concrete evidence that a severe case of embezzlement had transpired, Samuel proceeded to press charges in Bet Din against Albert and Jerry. Albert broke down and confessed in Bet Din, vowing to eventually pay back every dollar he stole. Samuel then accused Jerry of being an accomplice to the crime, as he had monitored all of the account’s activity and thus must have been aware of the misappropriated funds. Samuel insisted that Jerry return to the organization all the accounting fees he received throughout the years of embezzlement, since he was obviously not entitled to them. He also demanded that Jerry serve as a guarantor for Albert until the $895,000 was returned. Jerry was noticeably uncomfortable throughout the Bet Din session, but he refused to comply with Samuel’s demands. HOW SHOULD THE BET DIN RULE WITH RESPECT TO SAMUEL ’S CLAIMS AGAINST JERRY, AND WHY? JUDGE ! BE THE YOU BE THE JUDGE and send your response to YouJudge@Community M .com Verdicts – and the accompanying rationale – will be reviewed by the Rosh Bet Din. The first three correct submissions received before the deadline will win a $50 gift certificate to a Community Magazine advertiser! Correct entries will receive honorable mention in the next issue when the Rosh Bet Din’s verdict is printed. IYAR 5772 MAY 2012 53