Word: schmellner
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Arrested was a buck-toothed spinster of 36 named Mary Berd. Miss Berd has for some years been private secretary to one Zeida Schmellner onetime "Grand Rabbi" of Rumania before he arrived in the U. S. in 1925 amid the greetings of the acting Mayor of New York and a delegation of Jews. Inspecting the files of Miss Berd and Rabbi Schmellner last week, police and 25 accountants said they uncovered records of nearly $2,000,000 taken in as "loans." According to police who questioned both the rabbi and his secretary, the "racket" worked as follows...
...believed in the rabbi's reputation for sanctity would pay for benefits, understanding that the payment was merely an earnest of his good faith, that it was to be used for charity. Rabbi Schmellner and Miss Berd insisted that these payments were loans, secured by promissory notes. The fact that many of the loans were never repaid they explained as resulting from pious generosity. But police said they found that Miss Berd employed nine men at $100 per week in her transactions, which extended as far as Canada. Riding around in a big limousine, she maintained personal contact with...
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