Elie Schwartz Gets 6.5 to 8 Years in Fraud Case, Ordered to Pay Victims $45 Million

 Elchonon (Elie) Schwartz, 46, head of a New York City-based commercial real estate investment firm, pleaded guilty in February to a single count of wire fraud tied to the Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead. Schwartz persuaded over 800 investors to contribute a total of $62.8 million, including $54 million intended for the purchase of a major office building. Instead of using the funds as promised, he diverted them to finance his personal luxury purchases. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 87 months in prison and ordered to pay $45 million in restitution.

Among the victims were doctors, nurses, retirees, and small business owners, many of whom invested between $25,000 and $250,000. One of them, a factory owner from Chicago who invested $250,000, expressed his frustration: “I feel like he’s too rich and too well-connected to really be punished. He’ll get out of this and go back to his old ways.”

Federal prosecutors recommended a prison term of 6.5 to 8 years—a reduced sentence due to Schwartz’s lack of a prior criminal record and his cooperation with the authorities. However, many victims have expressed anger over what they consider a lenient punishment. Several reported devastating consequences, including losing their retirement savings, being evicted from their homes, and taking out student loans to cover their children’s education.

“I only got $3,500 out of the $25,000 I invested,” said one of Schwartz’s victims, adding, “But I would give that up just to see him sit for 20 years.”

Theodore S. Hertzberg, interim U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, addressed the court, stating, “Schwartz’s greed was boundless. He callously abused the trust of hundreds of investors to line his own bank accounts.”

Hertzberg continued, “Schwartz’s sentence reflects our office’s commitment to hold fraudsters accountable for exploiting investors who innocently rely on their false representations.”

Schwartz created a crowdfunding platform called CrowdStreet Marketplace, through which he raised nearly $63 million—$54 million earmarked for the Atlanta Financial Center and $9 million for a mixed-use property in Miami Beach. He assured investors that their funds would be held in segregated bank accounts, would not be commingled, and would be used solely for the intended property investments.

He then diverted the funds into his personal bank account and used them for unrelated commercial real estate ventures under his control. He spent the money on luxury watches, stock and options trades in a personal brokerage account, and payroll expenses for other businesses unconnected to the promised investments.

Long time mohel Emanuel Yechiya Meshulam, 88, passed away today during a Bris

 

Long time mohel Emanuel Yechiya Meshulam, 88, passed away today during a Bris at Bilu Junction in central Israel. (The attached clip has been shortened, ending just as he collapses.)

Renowned for his lifelong dedication to performing Brisim free of charge, Meshulam collapsed,  turning a joyful event into a moment of tragedy. 

In a heartbreaking twist, his grandson Kfir, an MDA volunteer medic, responded to the emergency call, only to discover his grandfather was the victim. Despite his efforts, Meshulam was pronounced dead at Kaplan Medical Center. 

His Levaya will be held tonight at 8:00 PM.

Lacking Charedi manpower, IDF turns to womanpower: 1 in 5 fighters are now female

 

Female combatants of the Paratroops mobility unit in the Gaza Strip during the October 7 war with a stray dog

One in five Israeli combat soldiers is female, a senior officer said in a recent Knesset hearing, underlining a major uptick in women serving in fighting roles.

“Today, women make up 20.9% of the IDF’s combat force – this is an unprecedented figure. We’re also seeing an increase in the technological units, but the main surge is in women serving as combat soldiers,” Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, said on May 7 while presenting official data to Knesset members in a discussion focused on female combat soldiers in the context of the need for an equitable conscription law for ultra-Orthodox men.

However, as women increasingly enlist in light infantry battalions, elite combat units, and other units that may put them on the frontlines, the army may struggle to address the dual challenge of integrating them alongside a hoped-for influx of ultra-Orthodox soldiers, policy planners warned.

Out of 18,915 Haredim who received initial draft orders since July 2024, around 319 have enlisted; 2,521 who ignored multiple draft orders were sent immediate call-up orders requiring them to show up at an induction center within 48 hours or be declared a draft evader.

In direct opposition to Haredi men evading the draft, Maj. Sapir Barabi, head of the Sources Department at the IDF Personnel Directorate, noted that between 2012 and 2024 – based on recruitment yearbook data – the number of female combat soldiers rose tenfold.

The Entire World Has Collaborated This Past Week to Try To Stop Israel From Destroying Hamas

In less than a week, we witness a series of suspiciously timed events: The Washington Post publishes fake news that Trump intends to abandon Israel if it does not stop the fighting, a claim immediately denied by American officials. The European Union announces that it is "considering" a trade agreement with Israel.
France, Britain and Canada are suddenly talking openly about recognizing a Palestinian state. And within Israel itself, precisely in the critical days of fighting against Hamas, Yair Golan chooses to compare IDF soldiers to baby killers. This is no longer accidental, it is planned. What is happening here is an international attempt to stop Israel at the very moment it is advancing militarily, morally, security-wise, and politically. After years of rockets, attacks, kidnappings, and unimaginable cruelty on the part of Hamas, the State of Israel is finally fighting to eradicate evil from the root. No more "conflict management," no more "temporary calm," but a decisive end. And that is exactly what scares everyone. The world is used to a weak Israel. To an Israel that apologizes. To an Israel that extends a hand even when the other is cut off. They know: A strong Israel is a completely different story. A strong Israel is a center of influence, of technology, of security, of stability in a raging Middle East. And that is threatening. It undermines the old order. It throws off balance those who built on the Jews continuing to be the persecuted party. Make no mistake, this is not just anti-Zionism. This is good old anti-Semitism, wrapped in new language. Because when Jews are murdered, the world is silent. And when Jews fight for their lives, the world screams. But we will not break. We will not surrender. We will not apologize for protecting our children. We will not stand trial for preserving our existence. The people of Israel understand well what is at stake. And in this pressure, as always, we will grow and become stronger. Because history has proven that when Jews stand their ground, the world becomes confused. And when they win, the world goes into hysteria. We will move forward. Not to please the world, but to secure the future of our children.

To the UK, France, and Canada: Go Shove It

 To the UK, France, and Canada: Go Shove It

You sanctimonious, hypocritical cowards. How dare you threaten the one Jewish state on earth—after everything your nations did to us. You dare speak of “humanitarian values” while standing on piles of Jewish bones your ancestors buried beneath cobblestones, cathedrals, and charters of “civilized” nations. Britain

Chamberlan posing with Hitler ym"s

Oh, Britain. The empire that carved up the Middle East with a pencil and a gin-and-tonic. You issued the Balfour Declaration and then slammed the door on Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. You handed chunks of Jewish land to Arab monarchs and let Jews die in the Holocaust rather than let them enter your precious Mandate. You interned Holocaust survivors in Cyprus like they were criminals. And now you’re wagging your colonial finger at Jews for building homes on our ancestral hills? Go shove your royal hypocrisy back into Buckingham Palace and deal with your own collapsing society—where knife crime, antisemitism, and Islamic extremism are more common than fish and chips. France

Liberté, égalité, fraternité—unless you’re a Jew. You deported over 75,000 Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust with the full cooperation of the French Vichy regime. You let them be shoved into cattle cars from the Vel d’Hiv while Parisians watched. And after the war? No justice. No reckoning. Just decades of indifference and empty words. Today, Jews are being stabbed in the streets of France, synagogues are under military guard, and you still have the audacity to lecture us about morality? You couldn’t defend your own republic from a gang of jihadists in a van, but now you want to dictate how Israel defends itself from genocidal terrorists hiding behind human shields? You are morally bankrupt and culturally collapsing. Go lecture someone else while your republic burns. Canada Oh Canada—America’s cold, smug, spineless cousin. Your “moral high ground” is a snow-covered hill of lies. You locked Jewish refugees out during the Holocaust. The ship St. Louis begged for your mercy. You sent them back—to die. “None is too many,” your officials said. That’s your legacy. Your history. And today, your politicians pose for photo ops in mosques that glorify martyrs while denouncing Israel for fighting genocidal killers. You’ve turned your universities into Hamas fan clubs and your Parliament into a circus of virtue signaling. You host terrorists in suits and call it diplomacy. You abandoned the Jews when we were stateless, and now you want to punish us for defending our state?

Here’s Our Response

We’re not the broken, stateless Jews of 1942. We’re the sovereign people of Israel—armed, aware, and unapologetic. Your sanctions are a joke. Your threats are meaningless. Your moral lectures are garbage. We don’t need your permission to live. We don’t need your validation to fight. You allowed Jewish blood to soak your soil for centuries. Now that Jews fight back, build, and thrive, you clutch your pearls? Israel doesn’t need your empty Western democracy. We have something older, holier, and stronger: truth, covenant, survival. Go shove your resolutions where the sun doesn’t shine. We’re not going anywhere. And next time you dare threaten the Jewish state—

Remember who we are now.

Tune in to 60 Minutes This Sunday !

 

Qatar invested £120 Billion this year alone in the UK

 

Yeshivishe Oilam Finally Sees That their System is "Not Sustainable" and is "Collapsing"

 

DIN: I have been screaming on this blog for years that the Yeshivishe System is no longer feasible and is in fact collapsing! Our OTD problem is in fact, a direct result of this system! 

Finally, I see that parents have had it and are now coming out and stating the obvious! The entire system is built on "schnorrerei" living off other people and Government grants! It is no wonder that so many Chareidim are incarcerated because of the financial pressure the community places on them! 

Here are two long letters that were sent to other bloggers as well, that spell out the pain that these families have to go through to fit in! We can not count on the "gedoilim" to change anything; they are unfortunately totally disconnected, and it is not in their interests to have anything change! So this revolution is quick in coming and is coming from the bottom up! 

Letter One

Dear Oilam, 

This is not a rant , this is real and it’s our reality for thousands of families across klal Yisroel* .

*We need to take real  action* , we can maybe start with something similar to below .

1. Everyone needs to get financial training by either RSK or the OU program

2. ⁠We need to prioritize  our spending and stop wasting money on unnecessary things and pretending we have when we don’t

3. ⁠We need to streamline our charity  organizations and only help those that help themselves ( no chasuna help should be given to anyone that’s  not taking on all  the Simcha initiative programs, you shouldn’t get $12,000 help make a wedding and then go buy a natural grown diamond engagement ring etc )

4. ⁠We need stop being lazy and shop for food and clothing in places that are little less convenient but can get us %30 to %50 savings …

5. ⁠shut  down overseas seminary for girls

6. ⁠oilem has to get 2 guys in every shul and communicate with other gabbaim in other Shuls and help make job shidduchim

7. ⁠we have to rapidly expand outside of our current borders into areas where cost of living is less ( *only way to do that is to have certain yeshivas send yunngerleit further out and make things happen*)

8. ⁠We have to daven for siyata dshamaya for all of the above

The “leaders” have to stand up and initiate and push through the above,with any means necessary

*We are drowning and people have to stop being concerned about what others think and just do the right thing*

Letter two!

US Deliberately Leaking Israeli Plans to Strike Iran ... to Sabotage it!

The United States has obtained new intelligence indicating that Israel is actively preparing for a possible military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities — a dramatic development that could upend President Donald Trump’s high-stakes diplomatic outreach to Tehran and spark a wider conflict across the Middle East, according to a report from CNN citing multiple American officials briefed on the matter.

While officials say that Israeli leaders have not made a final decision, the likelihood of a unilateral strike has “significantly increased in recent months,” one source familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

Behind the scenes, Israeli military movements, the repositioning of air munitions, and a recent air force drill have caught the attention of American intelligence agencies. Coupled with intercepted Israeli communications, these developments are being interpreted as possible signs of imminent military action — or, at the very least, a deliberate signal to Iran and the U.S. of what could come next.

Such a move would not only be a bold defiance of Trump’s diplomatic approach, but could ignite a broader regional war — something the Trump administration has worked to avoid since the Gaza conflict reignited Middle East tensions in 2023.

Rubio Knocks Out Sen Hollen the guy that flew to El Salvador to free a MS-13 Gang Member

 SEN. HOLLEN: "I regret voting for you for Secretary of State."

SEC. RUBIO: "Your regret for voting for me confirms I'm doing a good job."

‘We deported gang members … including the one you had a margarita with’

Remember that this was the silly senator who traveled to El Salvador to advocate for the release of known gang member and human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia.