NEW YORK (JTA) — A Hadassah-commissioned probe has exonerated two top officials, Marcie Natan and Nancy Falchuk, of financial abuse allegations.
Natan, Hadassah’s national president, and Falchuk, the organization’s former national president, had been accused by Hadassah’s chief operating officer, Larry Blum, of misuse of organizational assets. Blum outlined the charges in a Jan. 12 letter delivered while he himself was on administrative leave following allegations that he had misused his corporate credit card.
Hadassah responded by asking a committee of Hadassah board members to investigate Blum’s charges, and the committee appointed attorney Dan Kurtz of the firm Skadden Arps to head up the probe.
“After performing an extensive investigation, the conclusion we reached regarding the Blum allegations was that none of them were supported by facts," Kurtz said in a statement released Thursday by Hadassah. "No volunteers, including Marcie Natan and Nancy Falchuk, breached any fiduciary duties owed to Hadassah in connection with the allegations. Hadassah does not need to take further action with respect to the Blum allegations."
Blum remains on a leave of absence while an internal staff investigation probes the allegations against him.
"We are pleased with the conclusions of the committee and the Skadden firm and we are thankful to everyone for standing by us during this time," Natan and Falchuk said in a statement released by the organization.
Hadassah will mark its centennial in October.
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