Sacramento Bee A federal judge in Sacramento ruled late Tuesday that the California branch of one of the world’s largest Jewish religious organizations misappropriated grant funds and now must pay $844,985 in damages and penalties.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. found that Chabad of California violated the federal False Claims Act with bogus statements and certifications in connection with money it obtained through the Urban Areas Security Initiative: Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides funding for security upgrades to eligible nonprofits.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security program is administered here through the California Emergency Management Agency.
In a 21-page order, England found that Chabad knowingly failed to comply with grant requirements and falsely assured the government that it had written procedures to regulate the use of the funds.[...]
“Rabbi Cunin made it clear that the absence of policies was not an oversight” and “conceded that he never planned to safeguard the grant advances and ensure that funds so received were used only to pay authorized grant costs,” England said.
Cunin “treated the grant advances as if they were gifts to Chabad that, once paid by Cal EMA, were ‘no longer the business of the government,’” England said, quoting the rabbi’s deposition testimony. “(Cunin’s) cavalier attitude shows, at minimum, a reckless disregard.” [...]
The whistleblowers, Aria Kozak and his wife, Donna Kozak, of Santa Monica, through their company, Elite Interactive Solutions, installed state-of-the-art video surveillance equipment in several Chabad of California facilities, but were not paid for the work despite repeated requests, according to Hirst. [...]
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