The American businessman, a Gerrer Hasid, Michael Fein (47) was extradited from Israel to the United States, where he is expected to stand trial for bank fraud and wire fraud totaling approximately $28 million. Fein, who was arrested in Israel after being located by American authorities, landed on Thursday in New York and was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, where he will be brought for his initial appearance in federal court.
Fein was arrested in Israel in July 2023 at the request of the United States. His arrest was coordinated and executed in cooperation with the Department for Operational Coordination in the Intelligence Division of the Israel Police and the Interpol Unit at National Headquarters. The case was handled by Adv. Hanna Libe from the International Department of the State Attorney’s Office, and in the Jerusalem District Court, Judge Ohad Gordon declared Michael Fein “extraditable” as early as April 2024, while sparing no criticism of his conduct during the proceeding.
Gordon ruled that the repeated postponement requests, the exchange of arguments regarding representation, and the failure to present documents he promised to bring from abroad left “a sharp impression of someone seeking to prevent the hearing on the extradition petition.” Despite this, more than two years passed even after the judge’s decision until Fein was put on a plane and extradited to the United States.
In the United States, proceedings against Fein began as early as August 2020, after a federal grand jury indicted him for the offenses in question. According to the indictment, between 2016 and 2019, he repeatedly submitted false documents to banks and financing entities to obtain loans and refinance financing for apartment complexes owned by the real estate company he managed, T.E.H. Management, and affiliated companies. During the court hearings in Jerusalem, it emerged that during those three years, he entered and exited Israel 117 times.
The facts of the indictment show that Fein allegedly systematically inflated the occupancy rates of residential complexes, forged income data and budgets, and presented false representations in financing applications. Among other things, it is alleged that he obtained through them a loan of $2.8 million to purchase an apartment complex in St. Louis, a refinancing of $12.5 million for a project in Kansas City, and an additional loan of $7.7 million for an apartment complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Another attempt to obtain a loan of $5.2 million in 2019 failed after the application was rejected.
The indictment mentions that as early as March 2020, the federal government in the United States suspended public subsidies for the company’s housing complexes following numerous tenant complaints about poor living conditions. Since many of the tenants were eligible for housing assistance, they were granted vouchers that allowed them to move to alternative housing.
For each of the offenses attributed to him, a maximum prison sentence of 30 years in prison is set in the US, and in addition, the prosecution is seeking to forfeit at least $23 million, which it claims constitutes the proceeds of the crimes.
The extradition process was completed after the Minister of Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, acting as acting Minister of Justice for the matter, approved Fein’s extradition to the United States on May 14.
The federal prosecutor in Eastern Missouri, Thomas Albus, welcomed the extradition and said that he is “very pleased that Michael Fein will be returned to St. Louis to stand trial on allegations that he fraudulently obtained millions of dollars.”
The FBI emphasized the fact that Fein’s departure from the United States did not prevent his prosecution. According to the head of the FBI office in St. Louis: “No matter where a wanted criminal flees – the FBI and its partners will continue to pursue him until he is brought to justice.”
Fein denies the charges against him.
Source:
www.jpost.com
