Holocaust Fund Defrauded

I am sure that by now we have all heard about the Holocaust Survival Fund being defrauded. After a long debate with myself, I finally decided to post about this matter on my blog.Prior to voicing my opinion, and I have a very strong opinion on this matter, let me start by giving a brief background on this story.
On November 9, 2010, 17 people were charged with participating in a $42.5 MILLION fraud on an organization which makes reparations to victims of Nazi Persecution. Apparently employees who worked for the Claims Conference, a not-for-profit organization which provides assistance to victims of Nazi persecution, participated in fraudulent activities, by not following guidelines, by letting applications go that did not meet the criteria that was needed to receive the benefit of the fund, etc.  There are 2 separate funds that exist, Hardship Fund and Article 2 Fund. The Hardship Fund pays a one-time payment to victims of Nazi persecution who evacuated cities where they lived and were forced to become refugees. The payment of this fund was usually around $3,600.  Article 2 Fund  makes monthly payments of approximately $411 to survivors of Nazi persecution who fit a certain criteria.  Apparently 4,957 Hardship Fund applications were filed fraudulently between 2000 and 2009, resulting in a loss of approximately $18 Million.   Article 2 Fund is said to have processed about 658 application from approximately 1993 through 2009 and is said to have lost around $24.5 Million. Now for the kicker... how did it get done?  Well, as I said previously, it was not without the help of the employees who worked at the Claims Conference, although, the master mind behind this, were, for the most part, Russians who reside in Brighton Beach. These people submitted fraudulent applications for people who, in reality were not eligible for the fund. False identification was submitted, birth certificates and passports were altered and submitted with applications.  Horrific stories of the Holocaust were made up in order to receive monetary compensation.  Some of the people for whom applications were submitted were not even alive during the Holocaust, and some were not even Jewish.  It is further said, that the conspirators recruited people who would give personal information and on whose behalf those applications would be filed.  The recruiters, in turn, would keep approximately 90% of the payment and the alleged "victims" would get approximately 10%.
Indictments that are pending for those that were charged with this fraud, are generally that of conspiracy and mail fraud and carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.  I say... give them the maximum.  As you guessed... this is where I give my opinion... so if you are on the side of those criminals... you should probably not read what I have to say, since you will not like it.  First of all, as an attorney, I must say  that laws are here in order for them to be enforced and if someone breaks the law, that person knows that there will be consequences.  Yes, we, as attorneys, defend clients in all types of situations, and we do so to the best of our abilities.  Although I am not a criminal attorney, I still must say that if I was one, and one of those defendants walked into my office, I would ask them to leave and would not want to represent those individuals.  I know some are thinking... for the right retainer, you would represent them... NO.... I would not.  I have developed a very low tolerance for people who do not know when to stop and who cross the line.  It is one thing to defend a business partner, who perhaps conducts his business in a less than "up and up" manner, or who perhaps does not live up to his fiduciary duty to his partner, it is a complete separate thing to represent people who STEAL from a fund that was created for victims of the most horrific genocide that we remember. The conspirators involved in this scheme should be ashamed of themselves.  If they are not given the maximum penalties, it is my personal belief, that these people will again surface, with perhaps another scheme.  As they have clearly showed, there is nothing that they hold sacred, not Holocaust, not religion or nationality. As a member of the Russian community, in Brooklyn, New York, I take pride in my background, my religion and my nationality.  As a result, I take personal offense anytime a group of Russians commit such acts and must say that it is not a reflection on the Russian community as a whole.  For the most part, Russian immigrants are highly educated, professional people who abide by the laws and contribute to their community.