The Strange Case of the American Orthodox Jewish "Rice" Farmer in Bolivia

gretavo's picture

Yet another case that suggests links between orthodox Jews and the international drug trade....

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2012/05/set-your-dvrs...

Tonight on ABC's Nightline: The Case of Jacob Ostreicher. In a grim Bolivian prison, a lone American man has languished for nearly a year, uncharged by authorities who have accused him of money laundering, but he says he is innocent of any wrongdoing and refuses to give in.

Jacob Ostreicher 2009
Jacob Ostreicher

American Sits Almost a Year With No Charges in Isolated Bolivian Prison
By TERRY MORAN • ABC News / Nightline

Santa Cruz, BOLIVIA – In a grim Bolivian prison, a lone American man has languished for nearly a year, uncharged by authorities who have accused him of money laundering, but he says he is innocent of any wrongdoing and refuses to give in.

"It's an absolute nightmare," Jacob Ostreicher said. "I feel all alone most of the time. I'm begging the American people to try to help me."

"Nightline" traveled to Bolivia to hear Ostreicher's story firsthand. What we found was a man trapped in the web of a truly Kafkaesque prosecution, held inside of a prison like any in the world, where inmates roam free.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT

"Are you innocent?" I asked him.

"Absolutely 100 percent innocent," Ostreicher shot back. "And the prosecutors know I am 100 percent innocent."

Jacob Ostreicher is a 53-year-old flooring contractor from Brooklyn. It's a family business, selling and installing flooring mostly for commercial clients in the New York City area. In 2008, as the construction industry collapsed in the U.S., Jacob said he heard from a family friend -- a prominent lawyer in Switzerland -- about a promising investment opportunity: growing rice in Bolivia.

Ostreicher said he put $200,000 -- his life savings -- into the venture and became a very junior partner in a $25 million project.

He said things went well for a year or so. The first harvest yielded 50 million pounds of rice. More than 200 Bolivian workers were employed in the business. Ostreicher helped manage it, traveling frequently to Bolivia.

Then in 2011, Bolivian police arrested one of Ostreicher's former employees and accused him of being involved with drug criminals. Ostreicher said he cooperated fully with police -- and then was arrested himself.

Prosecutors claimed they were investigating whether the $25 million that started the rice business came from drug money.

"So we spent close to $20,000 to get together 1,300 documents to show them the origin of the money," Ostreicher said. "We provided that to the judge. And the judge gave me my freedom."

But six days later, in an extraordinary move, the judge reversed his decision and Ostreicher was sent back to prison. The judge was later promoted to the appellate court, further delaying proceedings.

Former FBI agent Steve Moore, who helped clear Amanda Knox of murder charges in Italy, has investigated Ostreicher's case. He is brutally frank in his conclusions.

"The whole system is corrupt," Moore said.

What's happening here, according to Moore and other sources on Ostreicher 's defense team, is an old-fashioned shakedown: Bolivian officials are demanding money.

"There's no evidence to convict him of anything," Moore says. "But here's a guy they see coming in from New York, who's got probably a lot of liquid cash or represents a lot of liquid cash, and they saw an opportunity."

According to Transparency International, a non-profit group that tracks corruption, Bolivia ranks as one of the most corrupt nations in the Western Hemisphere, and in a 2010 poll, Bolivians themselves rated the judiciary as the most corrupt institution in their country.

Today, Jacob Ostreicher remains in prison, no charges and no evidence brought against him. Bolivian authorities informed us that Bolivian law allows for the incarceration of people without charge for up to 18 months. Ostreicher has been in prison for 344 days -- over 11 months.

And what a prison.

Palmasola, it's called. It adds a "Lord-of-the-Flies" quality to Ostreicher's nightmare.

Because in Palmasola, there are no guards inside the walls. Prisoners govern themselves. They walk around the streets and alleys between the pavilions of cells. Some bring their wives and children to live with them.

But murders are common. So are drugs. So is prostitution.

American Waits in Bolivian Prison; No Charges Filed

When "Nightline" visited, it was a surreal scene, like a small Bolivian village, with shops and even restaurants, and an unmistakable air of menace and fear lurking just beneath the surface.

"I never, never go out at night," Ostreicher said. "It is absolutely frightening, walking around, like what you -- wherever you walked today, at night, it's very scary."

Jacob's wife, Miriam Ungar, comes to visit him frequently in this wild and strange prison. Leaving him to return home is "torture," she said.

"I feel like I'm abandoning him," she said. "The pain of watching him watch me leave, he stands behind the gate, and I just stare at him and I walk backwards, because I don't want him to see my back when I walk out the door, and he sees my anguish, and he runs in to make it easier for me to leave."

The Ostreichers have four children and nine grandchildren. The little ones don't understand what's happening. Jacob Ostreicher showed us a letter from his granddaughter, in which she wrote, "We keep asking grandma and mommy when you will come home. And they told me they don't know when. Grandpa, who knows the answer? I want you to come home today."

"My family keeps me going, because there's nothing else here," he said. "I'm the only American between 3,500 prisoners."

On the wall in the dining area near his cell, Ostreicher's fellow prisoners painted an American flag for him. It is an emotional talisman for him -- a slender, essential lifeline home.

"It means everything to me," he said. "This is what I got, is my flag. I will never look at the American flag the same way again... basically I'm hoping, one day, I will see this flag in my country."

That day is nowhere in sight.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT

For more information about Jacob Ostreicher's case, visit his website HERE

Posted at 05:01 PM in Crime, etc., Haredim | Permalink
Comments

this poor family. at least its starting to get national media attention. this guy seems to warrant pidyon shvuyim in its true sense and yet little has been organized on his behalf. would he be more worthy of concern if he believed in king moshiach like the criminal rubbashkin?

Posted by: ah-pee-chorus | May 11, 2012 at 06:45 PM

Posted by: ah-pee-chorus | May 11, 2012 at 06:45 PM

I think the problem might be he is no criminal so he does not warrant pidyon shvuyim.

It is not like he is SMR of the Japaneses smugglers.

I am saying it as a joke but there is a little truth to it

Posted by: seymour | May 11, 2012 at 07:15 PM

seymour =

it really is odd. i dont get it. not only has there been no evidence presented against him, but he is being held in a horrible and dangerous prison. why is he being virtually ignored by the same crowd which donates millions to SMR and the drug smugglers who were being held in relatively safe and humane prisons in modern democracies?

Posted by: ah-pee-chorus | May 11, 2012 at 07:57 PM

Dear Mr. Ostreicher, I’m sorry for your current predicament, and hope all works out. Please clarify a few elements in this story. Since you've already provided 1,300 documents, perhaps you can provide a few more. You mention that your company created 200 Bolivian jobs, from which I presume you wish for me to draw the impression that you did well for the people of Bolivia. Please, if you would be so kind, provide information as to the kind of jobs these were, and how much they paid. Were these well-paying executive and managerial positions, or day labor rice picking jobs? Does Bolivia have a minimum wage? Did your company provide any other benefits to its 200 employees? Also, I'm a little unclear, how a very junior partner, investing only $200,000 in a $25 Million enterprise, became involved and trusted as to be the point man in Bolivia for the other $24,800,000. Please elaborate on this aspect of your arrangement. You invested less than 1% of this money. How are you so certain about the origin for the other 99%? You also say that the $200,000 represent your "life savings" from which I feel I'm to understand that you're only a smalltime regular guy. How does such a simple man get to run a $25 Million enterprise? I very much want to support you, and maybe even contribute to your pidyin shvuin fund in case that becomes necessary. Please, or through your agents, respond to my above concerns. Sincerely yours. PS. I’ve heard it said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Is this love for the U.S. flag something you acquired in Bolivia, or are you long known to be a great lover of the United States?

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 11, 2012 at 08:26 PM

"helped manage it" != running it/point man

Why so accusatory? Why does it matter if the jobs were low or high level?

Posted by: MC | May 12, 2012 at 01:27 AM

My experience with Orthodox Jews makes me wary. Unlike a court, I do not have to give this man the presumption of innocence. When somebody accuses an Orthodox Jew or money laundering, I say to myself yep, I've heard that before. I’d love this businessman to be innocent. I'm willing to Blog and lobby on his behalf, even donate money if he’s a good man stuck in a Kafkaesque situation. But if he's full of shit, and not "100%" innocent, then I don't want to work myself up over him. So for example, if (and I’m not saying) he was exploiting 200 Bolivians, and now trying to make it seem as if he was providing 200 well-paying jobs, I would say he was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. But I am reserving judgment. I am requesting further information. Though I do feel this man is not disclosing something about the nature of his involvement in this venture. Actually, I caught the scent of something rotten when the story went from Brooklyn, to Switzerland to Bolivia ... but maybe that’s just me … Do you want to go into business, where I put up 0.08% of the money, you put up the 99.2%, yet you allow me to run the operation?

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 12, 2012 at 02:28 AM

I can't get too excited about him being held. As horrible as it is, he's not being treated differently than Bolivians. Also, if Bolivia is so corrupt, why start a business there? This entire venture and his part in it sounds fishy. I'm trying to find articles in the local papers to see what they are reporting.

I'm not business oriented but this sounds far fetched: "Jacob Ostreicher, a New York City businessman, and his Swiss partners figured they could double their $25 million investment in less than five years. And they could run it remotely." http://goo.gl/p2ofM

Posted by: effie | May 12, 2012 at 09:43 AM

I agree with FK and effie.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 12, 2012 at 12:26 PM

it is not so weird that someone puts up the money and someone else runs the show that happens all the time

on the show an investigator says this is simply a shakedown for money

what is truly shocking is the lack on concern from the frum community, no concerts, no pidyam shvuim, no rallies almost nothing. NOT even a prayer day of do an mizvha day, no tehiliem

yet for smr and the japaness boys that went nuts

something is odd

me think it is with the frum community

Posted by: seymour | May 12, 2012 at 01:04 PM

You guys are being harsher than necessary. Besides the fact that Shmarya vetted it (which despite what the trolls say is a pretty decent seal of authenticity), Bolivia's judicial system has a bad reputation with the country's citizens, giving the story additional plausibility. He could be in jail for not bribing.
"Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- Citizens give the judiciary a score of 4.3 on a 5-point scale (1 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt').
- More than 55% of the Bolivians surveyed perceive the judicial system to be extremely corrupt.
- More than 41% of households who had contact with the judiciary in 2009 report to have paid a bribe."
http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/latin-america-t...

Posted by: Eli, what me messiah? | May 12, 2012 at 01:05 PM

Bolivia is a corrupt shithole, and such countries are best avoided. Doing business is a corrupt shithole country is a very bad idea.

We need more facts about this case, and it won't be easy getting them.
Was Jacob Ostreicher a fool to think he could get rich quick-even if it was a legal deal- and get away with it in a foreign corrupt shithole?
Bad judgment, shady deal gone from bad to worse, not-so-legal shenanigans for which such countries have no mercy on foreigners? Maybe.

Why can't people just stay in normal civilized countries and do business in a straightforward way without going for get-rich-quick schemes? You'd sleep a lot better at night if you did.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 12, 2012 at 03:03 PM

Trying to discourage people from asking legitimate questions is ridiculous and won't work.

The system can be corrupt and the defendant guilty. It's not mutually exclusive.

I find it suspicious that Ostreicher is set up in a business that he has no experience in. Not only does he have no experience in agriculture, he has no exp. with Bolivian laws, customs, or business practices. Hell, he didn't even speak Spanish. Why would they put him in charge and why would he go?

Now, there is the lady lawyer go between, but it seems bizarre that if you have a 25 million dollar investment, you have only one young woman performing this job that someone knew years earlier as a student. Anyway, her full name is "Claudia Liliana Rodríguez Espitia" if people wish to google her.

And again, doubling a $25 million dollar investment in only 5 years selling rice?? If it sounds too good to be true, 99.999% of the time, it's a scam. From what I have read, they have had problems exporting Bolivian rice due to its poor quality.

Anyway, Bolivia has always been corrupt. I think of Hotel Terminus when I think of Bolivia and all the corruption and scams Barbie and his pals were involved in (when he wasn't busy torturing people). So, why set up shop there?

Posted by: effie | May 12, 2012 at 03:42 PM

If Bolivia is so corrupt and all they want is a little (or a big) bribe ... then what is the company waiting for? Pay off whomever they have to pay off and bring this dear Yid home. What's that? It's not so simple. It's about more than paying a bribe??? Oh. Maybe he did do something wrong. But very very minor? What more can you tell me about that?

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 12, 2012 at 04:19 PM

I hope he is let out and then he comes home straight away, never to return.

This is one of the reasons I don't visit these Third World sh*tholes, and one of the reasons they ARE sh*tholes.

Posted by: David | May 12, 2012 at 04:31 PM

Boliva is run by Evo Morales, who is a friend of Hugo Chavez and Iran, and no friend to the Jews. I don't presume innocence just because the defendant is "frum," but I think he is a naive guy who has been railroaded. And I agree with David and WSC about the Turd World.

Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | May 12, 2012 at 08:18 PM

Dear "Fleishike Kishke" FU you're a world class Idiot!

Sincerely,
x Former FBI agent Steve Moore
x TERRY MORAN • ABC News / Nightline

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 12, 2012 at 08:24 PM

You must have no answers for my questions, so you resort to ad hominem attacks. Swing and a miss.

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 12, 2012 at 09:09 PM

+++... "We provided that to the judge. And the judge gave me my freedom."
But six days later, in an extraordinary move, the judge reversed his decision and Ostreicher was sent back to prison...+++

When he was released, why the hell did he stay in Bolivia for even one more minute? How stupid is this guy? He should have gone straight to the airport.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 12, 2012 at 09:40 PM

http://www.hulu.com/watch/360782/abc-nightline-fri-may-11-2012

Posted by: jack | May 12, 2012 at 09:52 PM

To F. Kishke: Don't you think ABC investigated this story prior to airing it? Do you really think Terry Moran would travel to Bolivia if there was any doubt whatsoever regarding Yankel's innocence? Are you so arrogant that you think you are the first one to raise these questions? They were raised a long time ago, and answered - hence the involvement of Steve Moore and ABC news.
To WSCotton: He was released from jail, but not free to leave the country. Of course he would have left immediately if he was able!!

Posted by: bklynlady | May 12, 2012 at 10:38 PM

I think ABC needs to fill an hour of programming. If these questions have been asked and answered, PLEASE, direct me to the answers. As I said, I want to help. I just need these (and possibly a few more) questions answered. Appealing to a higher authority (ABC) is another fallacy. Swing and a miss. Strike two.

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 12, 2012 at 11:10 PM

I'm now convinced he's guilty...LOL!

Posted by: effie | May 12, 2012 at 11:12 PM

Moore is involved because he was hired by the defense team.

Posted by: effie | May 12, 2012 at 11:13 PM

This Bolivian Rice field was run by two remotes, first by a Swiss drone, of which in turn was in command and control of a US remote, without either commander and controller having to get even close to the Bulls Eye target, and I don't mean no "Eye". It only took two years to find out that the commanders were not in control of this fantastic Bolivian Rice and Horse Feathers business investment of $27.5 Mil, and I don't mean no Feathers. As an experienced businessman, remote US co-pilot drone controller calculated and realized to double his investment of $200,000 in five years, that is 20% or $40,000 gross income per year, provided all goes well. Furthermore, the original remote Master Planner was willing to risk 27.5 Mil for 20% return, without anyone actually overseeing the Bull ivian Ricefields, the Bull ivian Rice, the Bull ivian equipment, and the Bull ivian 200 phantom workers for over two Bull ivian years. My dear friend, and I don't mean no "ivian", either. As a Swiss Attorney, he should know better, that a Spanish speaking trusted manager is in first order and should be on premises just as well. I yet haven't even scratched the surface. Something stinks in Denmark, and it smells from Switzerlad all the way to Santa Clausz Bull ivia, and I don't mean no "ivia" either. There also must be a good reason why no one signs their name on any one of these, let it be petitions, demonstrations, or otherwise. Everything is done by remote. If you really want to know why, ask Y.M.P.

And to the dear bklynlady: How much was Steve Moore paid in his unofficial capacity hired privately, just so that his name could be used so as to infer credibility or authenticity bearing weight if any.

"Ostreicher said he put $200,000 -- his life savings -- into the venture", ...
"He was released from jail, but not free to leave the country. Of course he would have left immediately if he was able!!"
Not so fast bklynlady, he could have been a free person by now had he relinquished any of the monetary charges, but he outsmarted everybody, including himself. Other than that, he is a good businessman.

Posted by: chaimtudreshonikvecher | May 12, 2012 at 11:36 PM

I visited Bolivia and were very nice to me, no problem whatsoever, I have worked with bolivian no problem whatsoever, Jacob, would you should your full agreements with the 200 employees? Furnish info that you withheld their taxes, vested their retirement pension plans? Can you show how much IVA (VAT) have you paid all this time? To which bolivian bank you transfered money to purchase the fields? All monies transfered go thru the bolivian central bank, do you have any paperwork or recall the codes? In order to buy land do you recall the notary? do you recall giving the $$$ to the seller in front of the proper authority in purchasing the proper stamps? Jacob you are hiding too much, just give a guilty plea, relinquish for ever lands rices etc to the bolivian government, pay couple $$$ here and there and be on a flight to NY shortly, take a loss of $200K on your 1040, or really got something to hide?

Posted by: Alexander | May 13, 2012 at 12:36 AM

Using the Rule of 72, to double an investment in 5 years requires a growth rate of around 14%. 72/14= 5.15 years.

This investment only makes sense under one of the following conditions:

there is a rice shortage
there are contracted buyers for the rice
the "crop" is cocaine

Posted by: Nigritude Ultramarine | May 13, 2012 at 01:19 AM

Don't forget that Dorado took flight early in the game, while holding the bag full o' dough. If I had the option to choose from Ultramarines bullets, it would be bullet number three, that is the more likely reason why Swiss captain Rice kept his distance from captain hot potato, and captain hot potato from Bolivian rice. The US has more than ample supplies of rice selling to China and all over the globe. He could have been much better off investing in USA sushi rice, rather than inventing criminal patty-fields in Alcatraz land, with the only difference from Bolivian rice, that American rice you cannot inhale. As a matter of fact, the little land "Claudia Liliana Rodríguez Espitia" bought off Dorado's brother, you couldn't even fit 100 Bolivian people shoulder to shoulder, let alone 200. This whole UFO story sounds more like the Philadelphia Experiment lost in the sinking hole of the Bermuda Triangle, as it had been said, the s_it is bigger than the Bull. Don't forget that this is only my unified theory of relativity of the missing Quark, only real time in true space will tell.

Posted by: Stephen W. Hawkins | May 13, 2012 at 03:53 AM

The last seven posts leave me feeling that Jacob Ostreicher is another frummer who thought he could outsmart the rest of the world, get rick quick with a sleazy financial shell game, outmaneuver a corrupt government, and even when the noose was around his neck and he managed to be released he still thought he could take the money and not run.

It's a weird prison they've got set up there. They just put all the crooks into their own little city, wall it off, and let them all fend for themselves. It sounds like a haredi paradise. Maybe he can move his whole extended family and friends in there with him, start a minyan, a yeshiva, etc. and call it Otisville South.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 13, 2012 at 07:39 AM

My wife has two distant cousins that have a thriving business in Russia.

I met one of them, and I asked him "How do you manage the bribes etc?"

His answer: " We have a 50% business partner and he handles all that"

There you go! that is the secret! If one is willing to share wealth then one will be allowed to prosper!

Posted by: Isa | May 13, 2012 at 08:15 AM

How come the investors out of Switzerland aren't complaining? Or, is $27 mil chump change to them?

Posted by: effie | May 13, 2012 at 09:11 AM

Maybe their little cocaine- oops!- rice- farm isn't worth going to prison for, and $27 million is a small price for freedom.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 13, 2012 at 09:44 AM

when i read this website, i understand how it was possible to have proud kapos in the halacaust

Posted by: Rochelle | May 13, 2012 at 10:12 AM

Rochelle you idiot, you have never in your life even read a book about the Holocaust. Read Primo Levi's Life in Auschwitz and what he had to say about the Kapos. Read the book, then say something.
Until then, keep your stupid mouth shut because you are only proving what a narrow minded fool you are.

All frumma are innocent to you. Even the crooks. And you wonder why the rest of the world hates Jews. Look at who visibly stands out as the uber-Jews, all the biggest swindlers and crooks. Now it's this guy Ostreicher. So go visit him and move in to the prison community there with him. Enjoy.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 13, 2012 at 10:58 AM

Seems as if this guy was cookin' ice not rice.

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 13, 2012 at 11:15 AM

None of us have sufficient information to determine whether Jacob Ostreicher is innocent or guilty. But the only way to know ascertain the truth would be for him to have a trial. We do know that he is being denied that. That is the outrage.

People are engaged in all sorts of speculation about what he might have been doing. However, in a legitimate justice system, people are tried in a court of law rather than on a blog.

Posted by: asas | May 13, 2012 at 11:53 AM

Asas, the justice system there is as corrupt as everything else there.
Going to trial could very well get him a life sentence.

The best thing would be to find out how much money the government wants for his freedom, hand over a suitcase with that amount in cash, and then get the hell out of there immediately.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 13, 2012 at 12:02 PM

He's not being denied a trial. Under Bolivian law, they can hold you for up to 18 months without charges. Anyway, as WSC pointed out, trial may not be the best way to proceed.

Posted by: effie | May 13, 2012 at 12:21 PM

To Fleishike Kishke & WoolSilkCotton et al Jewish anti-semites at large!

Your blind hate for anything Jewish is understandable only according to the Talmud which states the hate from a non observant Jew to an observant Jew! Is greater than the hate of a gentile to a Jew!

Said that your ramblings can be refuted line-by-line but who are you exactly that one owes you such courtesy! You and your cabal are probably the same who collected already close to a hundred thousand dollars promising friends and family that your cabal can help! And Pocketed the MONIES! To muddy the waters you're barking innuendoes and assumptions of guilt trying to prolong his release and by that to delay 'payback time' we know who you are you can run your foul mouth... but you can't hide.

btw, for does who want to know this venture wasn't managed by Jacob! But by a so called reputable domestic lawyer who was well known by the money partners Ms. Claudia Liliana Rodriguez Espitia, attorney. Who fell in a tryst/relationship with a reputable drug dealer Maximilliano Dorado! When the partners found that out, they removed her legally from the team and she wound up incarcerated for her interactions with Maximilliano! All this is in the court records of wich Jacob had never anything to do with in fact he ousted her publicly beforehand, And that’s when he was forced to manage the venture and to get himself out of the tangle she weaved around the partners!

Your uncontrollable Jewish self-hate has no bounds! Accusing him of drug dealing! Which even the Bolivian government didn't accuse him of! After 11 months of investigations and after they confiscated 'and sold' his rice!

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 13, 2012 at 02:01 PM

WSC, FT et al, you are a disgrace. The burden is on the government to prove guilt, not on the defendant to prove innocense.

There are no allegations that he was not paying prevailing wages, and if you dont like those wages, presumably everyone paying them should be in jail as well.

If you beleive him to be guilty, say why, rather than simply say that anyone Orthodox belongsd in jail, or worse.

Maybe you can suggest a final solution for the Orthodox?

Posted by: anycomment | May 13, 2012 at 02:41 PM

Nebakh Tevye. How can I hate Jews? I love Ostreicher chocolate-chip cookies. I’d never do anything to hinder their production. I'm sorry if this Mr. Ostreicher is your friend or relative and his travails are causing you pain. Your post is so emotional and confused that I’ll just say swing and a miss strike three, and leave this topic alone. I don’t want to rub salt in your wounds, or somehow make things worse for this guy. He has enough trouble on his own. That said, the victims of illegal drugs are those who suffer from its addictions and attending violence, not those producing and selling them. He does not acknowledge any wrongdoing, which means if he has done something wrong, and he gets out, he will become an even greater menace to society. In the future, don’t use words such as “languishing” in “grim” prison, trying to create an image of a man locked in tiny filthy cage, when the man walks around in designer (freshly laundered) jeans and polo shirts, and $500 shoes. Don’t think you’re smarter than everyone else. With my “goyishe kop,” I smelled something rotten about this case without knowing a single detail outside the article. At best, he’s a ruthless businessman. You hold him up to be some righteous Tzadik and I know you’re full of crap. The dynamic has shifted. In the middle/dark ages, Jews got some education and the surrounding peasants were ignorant. Nowadays, the Fruma mass are uneducated idiots, and the population at large is educated. Even many “rabbonim and gedolim” by their actions and words prove to be imbeciles. There is no such place as “Jewland.” Play by the rules of society or pay the consequences. Your Yeshivas are producing dishonest dolts. Because society paints *me* with the brush of your “Jewish” actions, I will calmly and doggedly contribute to your arrest and incarceration. Screaming Anti-Semite/Nazi will avail you nothing.

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 13, 2012 at 03:17 PM

Fleishike Kishke blah-blah-blah..

A typical rambling of an OTD blie shyster!

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 13, 2012 at 03:44 PM

Fleishike Kishke said:
"I will calmly and doggedly contribute to your arrest and incarceration"

So Mr. nitwit got the message!, Oh wow pooleaseee? no threatenings ok

! ?? ?? ?? ????

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 13, 2012 at 03:58 PM

""""The burden is on the government to prove guilt, not on the defendant to prove innocence. """""

In the USA!!

But in Bolivia the defendant has to prove innocence, maybe not according to their written law but for practical purposes innocence has to be proven.

If the authorities want this Jacob will plead guilty to whatever they want.; [minus a couple of toenails]

Posted by: Isa | May 13, 2012 at 07:07 PM

Tevye, you sound like you are on drugs. Was Ostreicher your supplier? Just wondering.

Anycomment, read Effie 12:21. He may have committed some massive financial fraud that has nothing to do with the workers' wages. He might also have been trafficking in cocaine, not rice, or the rice was some kind of smoke screen. Or most likely, he dabbled in all of these things, and refused to pay the crooked government their required bribes.

The best thing for him would be what I said at 12:02.

But in your ghetto mind, anyone who thinks a frum Jew could possibly ever be guilty of any wrongdoing must be a self-hating Jew. And so you remain in the Dark Ages, and Ostreicher remains in prison.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 13, 2012 at 07:14 PM

F.Kishke if you are worried about the conditions of employees in Bolivia, you know nothing about Bolivia. I think the only thing you do know is how to hate. It is quite normal for investors in the Haredi community to trust one another and invest large amounts of money. Sadly it sometimes is extremely naive and does not work out. But many large Haredi partnerships all over USA Europe and the world have worked on this basis, and have prospered. If you do not understand this you have either slipped so far that you do not remember, or you are just interested in is "Kishke"

Posted by: Mark | May 13, 2012 at 07:28 PM

WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar shit head1:
"Tevye, you sound like you are on drugs. Was Ostreicher your supplier? Just wondering."

curiosity kills the cat.

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 13, 2012 at 07:56 PM

It took two years to notice that the yearly yield of 5.4 Million is not forthcoming, no questions asked. What were the investors being told? If Lilliana was in charge of this whole $271/2 million project, what was o.j.'s job? You keep on harping family man, business man, what kind of business man would keep quiet for 2 years, while his entire life savings is swimming in the bolivian rice fields, what? and no questions asked? Whatever the case may be, this yet has nothing to do with any assumptions, court papers or being Judge, Jury and executioner. However, the questions are begging for answers just as well, and you're not playing with a full deck. Never mind 'tryst/relationship', what does that have to do anything with the business venture, unless of course they were in cahoots with this known drug dealer. Did you ask yourself why he needed to buy land, equipment etc. the land is there together with the equipment, why not just lease it. If the business didn't pay off, just pack your bags and run. These are all legit questions that are begging for answers.
btw, this has nothing to do with the government, but has been said that the baggage this businessman is carrying, it is a miracle how he can bear the weight and stand still on his feet. So much for rice, business, and man.

Posted by: Fiddling on the roof | May 13, 2012 at 08:12 PM

bolivia is not the u.s.a . you do not have to be charged with anything to be thrown in jail in bolivia. if the authorities suspect something about you , or if they think you are a spy with NO PROOF , just because you are a foreigner and you hang out among their population , is enough evidence that there's something wrong .

they throw you in jail, just like that .
and it's normal.

jacob ostreicher will have a hard time getting out of jail . not that soon .
NOBODY will do anything for him .
no dov hinkind, no charles schumer, no u.s consulate in bolivia , no obama or any upcoming prez . NOBODY . remember what i'm telling to you, ppl , today. you'll see .

those bolivians don't know anything !
they don't listen to NOBODY .
if the gov throws ostreicher to a military court, ostreicher is done . noone could do anything for him .

you can rally all you want . you can hope
all you wish . nothing .
this is bolivia . they know nothing!
no need to go crazy . ostreicher is done .

Posted by: lev | May 13, 2012 at 09:07 PM

WSC,

You said: "Anycomment, read Effie 12:21. He may have committed some massive financial fraud that has nothing to do with the workers' wages. He might also have been trafficking in cocaine, not rice, or the rice was some kind of smoke screen. Or most likely, he dabbled in all of these things, and refused to pay the crooked government their required bribes.

The best thing for him would be what I said at 12:02.

But in your ghetto mind, anyone who thinks a frum Jew could possibly ever be guilty of any wrongdoing must be a self-hating Jew. And so you remain in the Dark Ages, and Ostreicher remains in prison.
---------------------------------------

I have no more knowledge of what Ostreicher may have done than you do -- which is no information. But you are prepared to declare him guilty because he is Orthodox. You shouldn't be offended at being compared to a Kapo-- you should be proud, it's what you believe in. You hate the Orthodox, will believe anything evil that is said about them, whether it is proved or not, and your wish is that the Orthodox don't exist.

I on the other hand don't have a bias in favor or against the Orthodox, I go by the facts. If they are guilty, I deplore their activiites, if they haven't been proved guilty I don't vilify them. It's your bigotry that distinguishes you here.

Posted by: anycomment | May 13, 2012 at 09:26 PM

If Ostreicher would have been dealing in drugs, the Bolivian govt. would have let him remain in business because thats the only business they really want to encourage at this time. Morales encourages expansion of the coca farms at the expense of anything else. He is murdering his own indigenous people to help the coca leaf growers expand their fields. Refer to Ms. O'Grady from the WSJ who spoke about it on John Batchelor show tonight (Sunday 5/13) and wrote an editorial last week in the WSJ.

Posted by: bklynlady | May 13, 2012 at 11:47 PM

WSC, FK,
I don't see a reason to infer guilt by circumstances. If this had been a manager of GM or Microsoft (both companies do business in Latin America), we'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Or at least I'm pretty sure you would.
The problem with the frum world is that normal laws and rules don't apply to them. Works both ways, though.

Posted by: Eli, what me messiah? | May 14, 2012 at 12:21 AM

You frumme think you can fool all the people all the time. I know nothing about Bolivia, but I can read a few books and change that by the end of the week. But today I looked into this Tzaddik. Seems it's not very surprising that dafke HE happened to hook up with a "reputable lawyer" who got turned by a "reputable drug dealer." Pay who you need to pay and get him out if you can. Or let him do his time and teach the next generation not to make the same mistakes. Don't drag down all Jews everywhere, the way someone else did. They weren't going to profit from the "rice" business, and they shouldn't have to pay the price. Or daven to Reb Yoylish, or King Mendel. I hear he works miracles. Ness-Niflas on a continuous basis.

Posted by: Fleishike Kishke | May 14, 2012 at 03:47 AM

I have every right to speculate and theorize all I want. My thoughts and writings do not affect Ostreicher one bit.

He wasn't just thrown in prison for no reason whatsoever. There are plenty of other foreign businessmen in Bolivia right now, too, who aren't in prison. But the frumma think they are above the law wherever they go, which leaves me skeptical about him being 100% innocent of any wrongdoing. His 'business' wasn't exactly a reputable recognized entity. It was a get-rich-quick scheme, at best.

Frumma fools like anycomment are indeed convinced that all frumma are above the law, and cannot even bring themselves to speculate that there may have been something shady about Ostreicher's wheelings and dealings. And so, in their ignorance, they scream Holocaust Holocaust Holocaust. It's the only card the frumma ever play when they're caught with their pants down and their hands in the till.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 14, 2012 at 04:31 AM

"Palmasola, it's called. It adds a "Lord-of-the-Flies" quality to Ostreicher's nightmare.

Because in Palmasola, there are no guards inside the walls. Prisoners govern themselves. They walk around the streets and alleys between the pavilions of cells. Some bring their wives and children to live with them. But murders are common. So are drugs. So is prostitution. When "Nightline" visited, it was a surreal scene, like a small Bolivian village, with shops and even restaurants, and an unmistakable air of menace and fear lurking just beneath the surface."

I don't get it. Why the freakout? Cops on the outside, people on the inside. Huge walls, but other than that they leave you alone to govern yourself. Get up when you like. Go to bed when you like. Bring in your wife and kids. Start your own business. No courts except the ones you make yourselves. If, as a group, you screw up and start killing each other, it just proves, as a group that the prisoners are animals and deserve to stay behind the 30 foot high walls.

Its just like Gaza, Judea and Samaria, only much smaller. So what's the problem?

And stop with your cousins making Nightline propaganda films trying to get American goys to call their senators and congressmen and hate Bolivians. If you can't even get some rabbi delegation together like you did for Pollard you probably ARE up to no good. Has the Israeli consulate sent over a representative, or don't you want to talk about that? Anyone else from the Bolivian Klal? Didn't think so.

Some goy countries you visit are filled with nice goyim like America where you really have to be a major crook to go to a nice jail, like Rubashkin. America even gives you a free lawyer if you can't afford one!

Pity you figured Bolivia was just as nice and just as gullible as America.

My advice? The next sweatshop you set up you ought to be in America with imported Bolivian wetbacks like Rubashkin did. Hire a couple American goyim as front men. At least that way the prisons are nice when you ultimately get busted.

My ultimate advice? Make Aliyah.

Posted by: Big Bill | May 14, 2012 at 05:46 AM

Whether he's even guilty of anything or not almost doesn't matter at this point. A 'fair trial' ain't gonna happen. If they want to keep him in prison, they can give him 10 years for jaywalking.

His only option now, if he has any, is to pay the bribes, forfeit anything he still has there, then head straight for the fucking airport.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 07:24 AM

Fleishike Kishke | May 14, 2012 at 03:47 AM
WoolSilkCotton, | May 14, 2012 at 04:31 AM

Is your hate for all things 'frum' keeping you up at 3-4 in the morning? You may have to seek some professional help than!

btw, in your prior re-gargled comments you portray Jacob as not frum? So when you bash frum is it against Jacob? Or is it your own failed attempt at it?

Posted by: Tevye the Milchiker | May 14, 2012 at 08:16 AM

Tevye,
you missed the point, especially of WSC, who is just expressing skepticism on account of the tendency of frumma to behave as if the laws don't actually apply to them. Gee, where would someone on this site get that idea?
Hmm... current front page of FM lists:
- Well-known lawyer publicly lies about Rubashkin record,
- Haredi won't obey new rules about serving in the IDF,
- Haredi website urges murder of journalist,
- DA in Brooklyn cuts deal so rules on child abuse rules don't apply to his frum constituency,
- Chabad kidnaps children to Russia and hides them from custodial father,
- Beit Din judge investigated for ruling on cases handled by his daughter and son in law...
and so on.
so, yeah, you can see where someone around here might be just a little bit skeptical.
I still dissent from FK and WSC on this case, but I completely hear where they are coming from.

Posted by: Eli, what me messiah? | May 14, 2012 at 09:23 AM

Tevye, your mental function limits your reading comprehension skills as well as the ability to think clearly.

Failed Messiah time designations are based upon Minnesota time. I live in the NY time zone.
Unlike you, I wake up early and go to work. I am not in Boro Park like yourself, collecting welfare and waking up at 10am.

Your reading skills are poor. Go back to whoever taught you English and demand a refund.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 09:26 AM

WoolSilkCotton you do have an abundance of spare time yourself, you post on every conversation where there is a possibility of releasing your pent up self hate!

Posted by: Mark | May 14, 2012 at 10:13 AM

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | May 14, 2012 at 04:31 AM

I agree with you most of the time but it could be this guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time

time will tell

Posted by: seymour | May 14, 2012 at 10:50 AM

eastern standard time is now 11:51am

Posted by: Josh | May 14, 2012 at 10:51 AM

WoolSilkCotton: "Failed Messiah time designations are based upon Minnesota time. I live in the NY time zone."

The rule that people don't lie when they know they can get caught seems not to aplly to this air head! Eastern standard NY time is now 11:56am and that's what FM is set to!

Posted by: Josh | May 14, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Seymour, I hope you are right and that he is indeed innocent, but with a filthy corrupt country where all that matters is bribery, I don't think it even matters at this point if he is innocent or not.
If he still can, let him pay the bribes and then get the hell out of that disgusting country.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 10:58 AM

Posted by: Mark | May 14, 2012 at 10:13 AM

Mark, you're a dolt. WSC has some of the most intelligent comments here. But you need a brain and open mind to process them.

Posted by: Eli, what me messiah? | May 14, 2012 at 11:03 AM

I still don't believe any honest investors would hand 27 mil to a guy to run a company in a business he had no experience in, in a country where he is not familiar with the customs and laws and where he doesn't even speak the language. Nor do I think an honest person would accept such a job. Also, the "investors" seem awfully silent on the seizure of their property. So, don't tell me to suspend my common sense and disbelief. Any time someone asks a question, they are told to shut up. Or, that the questions have all been answered. No, they haven't. Who the hell do you think you're fooling? Personally, I think it was a money laundry scam from the get go. Rest assured, something will happen in the next 7 months - they will either cut him loose or file charges. I'm not sure that all this adverse publicity is helping him.

Posted by: effie | May 14, 2012 at 11:19 AM

++Eastern standard NY time is now 11:56am and that's what FM is set to!

Posted by: Josh | May 14, 2012 at 10:55 AM++

Josh, mathematics is not your strong suit.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Eli, thanks!

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 11:42 AM

++Eastern standard NY time is now 11:56am and that's what FM is set to!

Posted by: Josh | May 14, 2012 at 10:55 AM++

Josh, mathematics is not your strong suit.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton

WSC- that was just too easy. LOL

Posted by: ah-pee-chorus | May 14, 2012 at 01:22 PM

APC, LOL!

Sometimes it's as if the trolls are just lobbing us softballs.

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | May 14, 2012 at 01:56 PM

Amendment:
*Rule 7 is only enforced when the perpetrator is on the other side. However if he the poster is clearly anti Frum, eat drink and be merry

Comment Rules
1. No anonymous comments.
2. Use only one name or alias and stick with that.
3. Do not use anyone else's name or alias.
4. Do not sockpuppet.
5. Try to argue using facts and logic.
6. Do not lie.
7. No name-calling, please.*
8. Do not post entire articles or long article excerpts.
***Violation of these rules may lead to the violator's comments being edited or his future comments being banned.***

Posted by: Mark | May 14, 2012 at 02:55 PM

Since so many are asking so many questions, it is true though that many have been left unanswered. Therefore, here is somefood for thought, that might help you to put the puzzle together. It is based on a true story, except the names have been changed to protect the innocent and their families.

Nolty was offered a plan by Milian Valeszquez Esposito that he could not refuse. The plan was as in the following. She knows of a Master Rug dealer named El Dorado of Texas, who has ways and means to export illicit Rugs in large amounts under cover with lots of experience. First you need to have your own private land, buy equipment, and hire workers where you will be planting 100's of acres of your own legitimate Rice, amongst many acres in between with Bolivian Rice if you get my drift. When the crops are packaged and ready for Export, 1000's of Tons of Rice will be shipped where amongst them will also be Bolivian Rice to an unclosed destination where they will legitimately sell the Rice dirt cheap to the world market. The Rugs with a certain percentage cut with a certain pattern must first be paid to the Border officials to close an eye on the blinding hot shipment. However, at the undisclosed Country of destination, the Bolivian Rice will be sorted out and sold as Rugs where the Texas Ranger will take care of it through his French Connections, if you get my drift. This plan sounded very hot for Mr. Nolty, and in order not to get burned said Milian Valeszquez Esposito, you must have a Buffer and a Sair LaAzazel (a scapegoat) for just in case. For this they found a mediator that knew nothing of the language and was willing to risk...

( this was recommended so that it will make hard to communicate with Milian Valeszquez Esposito which will much delay till these businessman will catch up, giving ample time for the Texas Ranger to create an ALIBI as being kicked out of the country etc. etc. etc. and fetch in hot pursuit moshe zichmech) ,

...but was also advised not to get too close to the heat and not to get burned. Nolty bought this plan, hook, line and sinker. The monies kept pouring in, but instead of a fantastic return, all they got is excuses along with some copies of cancelled checks, and some more excuses. Since the mediator O.J. Stimpson (not his real name) had put up his whole life savings, he had not much of a choice but to take care of business first hand, and as a successful businessman with many years of experience, he got too close to the Rug merchandise and got burned. He immediately fired Milian Valeszquez Esposito through an interpreter and continued with the Bolivian rice business, as if business as usual. Since he did not know the official Bolivian players and which wheels need to be oiled, he had to be somehow silenced in order not disturb the well oiled Officials, they decided to can him into a Koca Cola can( not the real name), where he can have his own can within the Pepsi Kola (not the real name) container together having his own country's flag. He already had been given one golden opportunity to escape together with the fizz, but refused to leave without his life amassed savings. People are trying to awaken him, but he stubbornly refuses, since he klnows that once he wakes up from this sweet dream, instead of dirt cheap he will realize cheap dirt, and will never see his money again. So goes the scheme of the Texas Ranger.

Posted by: olivianlice | May 14, 2012 at 05:59 PM

This guy if he wanted to survive would have hire 'consultants' such as relatives or friends of...

province governor
mayor
chief of police
army general
The local archbishop
someone from the presidents political party

In no time at all he would have lots of 'friends' that would want him to succeed!

But he was greedy and did not want to share the wealth

In this country it is done differently...
ever hear of 'campaign contributions'

Posted by: Isa | May 14, 2012 at 06:01 PM

You know up to now, I believed that this case was a pure pidyon shvuim, now after some of these comments here, I'm not so sure. FK really comes up with a lot of legitimate questions, which I'm hoping the supporters of JO can answer. So far, I haven't seen any point by point refutation of FK's questions which can only mean that maybe there is some truth to FK's skepticisms. Please, anyone here prove him wrong, or at the very least, allay some of my own new found questions so that I can continue to support JO. Thanks.

Posted by: jake mt | May 14, 2012 at 06:29 PM

FK asked legitimate and logical questions

Posted by: . | May 14, 2012 at 10:39 PM

Interesting, can't help but notice that the front page column has this article as "OLDER" and having to click for it. Usually there are so many articles before you need to click. I would only try to guess, it is when it becomes too controversial, and the advertisers request to put it on the back burner. Look at this second column, you fit soooooooo many more on this page. ???

Posted by: . | May 15, 2012 at 11:31 AM

Posted by: . | May 15, 2012 at 11:31 AM

I can't even understand what you're trying to say.

Are you usually this illiterate?

Posted by: Shmarya | May 15, 2012 at 02:25 PM