Nine persons and a corporation were indicted here yesterday by a Federal Grand Jury on charges of allegedly conspiring to ship airplanes and other materials to Israel last year in violation of the neutrality act and export control laws. The defendants were said to have shipped war materiel to the Jews in Israel via Czechoslovakia.
According to the Grand Jury indictment, the materiel included several airplanes aircraft motors and radio equipment. Four of the defendants were charged with conspiring to defraud the war Assets Administration by stripping a surplus C-46 cargo draft in order to ship its parts.
Bail was fixed at $10,000 each for eight of the defendants while Miss Elynor Rudneck, the ninth defendant and only woman indicted, vas released in $1,000 bail. Those indicted are Adolph W. Schwimmer, Ray Selk, William Sosnow, J. Leonard, Sam R. Leases, Herman N. Greenapun, Abraham J. Levin, Lel Gardner and Miss Rudnick. The firm indicted along with the nine, defendants is Service Airways, Inc., of Hew York.
(In New York, Bartley Crum, former publisher of the Hew York Star and former ###### of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine, issued a statement destining that he is defending some of those indicted in Los Angeles. The statement noted that “we deeply regret the action taken by the government today. We are confident that no conspiracy or violation existed and that when all the facts are made intone the accused will be acquitted. These defendants must be Judged in the light of the situation confronting the Jews of Palestine and Europe at the time the alleged save were committed.”)
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.