Brooklyn woman pleads guilty to $57M fraud targeting WWII victims
Valendina Romashova, aka “Tina Rome,” pled guilty on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to defraud programs administered by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which was established to aid the survivors of Nazi persecution, out of more than $57 million.
Romashova was arrested in November 2010 as part of an ongoing investigation that has resulted in charges against a total of 31 participants, 10 of whom were former Claims Conference employees, including a former director. She pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Valentina Romashova abused her position at a law firm, taking the firm’s clients and turning them into the instruments of a cynical fraud. Her theft of funds intended to compensate the victims of unspeakable crimes has now earned her the conviction she deserves.”