WJC Ditches Singer
The NY Times reports,
The World Jewish Congress, the small nonprofit group that compelled European banks to pay billions of dollars in Holocaust restitution, has dismissed its longtime leader, Israel Singer, after three years of controversy.
“Israel Singer is no longer associated with the World Jewish Congress or any of its affiliates,” the organization reported in a statement appended to an internal newsletter sent to staff members and other officials on Wednesday.
Mr. Singer’s departure follows a tumultuous period for the organization that began when its Swiss affiliate discovered $1.2 million in odd transfers of money between accounts in New York, Switzerland and London, where it was held in the name of an Israeli lawyer.
The money was eventually returned, but the transfers led to other questions, including how much of the organization’s money was footing lavish travel and other expenses incurred by Mr. Singer and whether its financial controls were adequate.
Those questions led to an investigation by the New York State attorney general’s office, which concluded last year that Mr. Singer had violated his fiduciary responsibilities and found problems with the organization’s financial controls and fund-raising practices. The office did not find evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but the Internal Revenue Service is still at work on its own inquiry.
