The Daily Telegraph reported today from Moscow that a group of alleged speculators, led by a 76-year-old man whose name was published as Gutermakher, had been arrested in Alma-Ata, the capital of Soviet Kazakhstan in central Asia.
According to the report, the seven members of the alleged gang had collected gold, pre-revolutionary currency, watches, table ornaments, silver and precious stones. Gutermakher, described in the Telegraph report as apparently of Jewish origin, was a private businessman before the Russian Revolution.
Another member of the alleged ring, according to the report, was an organizer of a cooperative store in Alma-Ata, who was accused of having accumulated the equivalent of more than $100,000 in the course of his duties.
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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.