RAMAPO — One of two remaining fugitives accused in an $11.6 million swindle from federal subsidy
programs was arrested yesterday in London.
Avrum David Friesel, the son of New Square's mayor, was wanted from a 1997 indictment that accused him and six others of fraudulently obtaining federal funds for a variety of bogus educational and housing purposes.******* language="VB">
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Part of the scheme used Rockland Community College to funnel an estimated $5.1 million for several thousand students in a Judaic studies program that did not meet funding guidelines.
Friesel was arrested by London's Metropolitan Police Service at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Details of his arrest and when he could be extradited to the United States were unavailable yesterday.
"It's a complex matter," U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Herbert Hadad said yesterday. "They've arrested him, and that's step one."
A London judge ordered Friesel to be jailed pending a May 7 bail hearing.
Friesel was one of three suspects who fled before a 1999 trial that led to the convictions of four others: Kalman Stern, David Goldstein, Jacob Elbaum and Benjamin Berger.
Their sentences, which ranged up to 70 months in prison, were commuted by President Clinton to between 24 and 30 months.
Another defendant, Chaim Berger, died of cancer in a North Carolina prison hospital in 2004 before completing a six-year sentence. He was 79 and was the father of defendant Benjamin Berger.
Chaim Berger had fled to Israel to avoid trial and was arrested there in 1998. He was returned to the United States in 2001. He pleaded guilty to masterminding a scheme that had lasted 20 years.
All the defendants were under a court order to make restitution. Each was to forfeit 10 percent of his gross monthly income.
The U.S. Attorney's Office was unable yesterday to provide details on the amount of restitution that had been paid.
Still at large is Nathan Adler, also known as Abraham Godlewsky. His whereabouts are unknown.
Friesel, now 55, is a former New Square village clerk. His father, Mates Friesel, has been the village's only mayor since the community was formed in 1961 by Skver Hasidic Jews from Brooklyn.
A message left for Mates Friesel at Village Hall was not returned yesterday, and a person answering the telephone at the Friesel home hung up without speaking to a reporter.
The 64-count indictment against Avrum David Friesel includes participating in a conspiracy that created phony entities purportedly eligible for federal assistance. It's charged that those entities submitted fraudulent documentation making New Square residents and others eligible for housing, education and small-business aid to which they were not entitled.
The conspiracy, which ran for two decades, was concealed by the use of false names and bank accounts and fraudulent income tax returns, according to prosecutors.
Among the programs defrauded were federal and state tuition assistance grants, a Small Business Administration program to aid small, minority-owned companies, the Section 8 rental subsidy program and an insurance benefit program run by the Social Security Administration.
In the case of the education grants, more than 3,000 students from New Square and Brooklyn enrolled in a Judaic studies program at Rockland Community College using independent-study mentors.
The students, however, were ineligible for the assistance because they took only religious courses. The U.S. Education Department estimated that $5.1 million was wrongly paid directly to students who the college had approved for aid.
The ensuing scandal rocked the college's administration and led to a local legislative uproar that called for strict oversight of the college and its finances.