Zionist Group Urges Probe into Report That Arab Students in U.S. Turn Insurance Claims $ over to PLO

Rabbi Joseph P. Sternstein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, has called for a full investigation of reports that Arab students in the United States have turned over to the Palestine Liberation Organization millions of dollars they received through fraudulent insurance claims.

Sternstein referred to a report this week that students from Arab countries have systematically defrauded more than a dozen national insurance companies through phony claims for auto thefts, disability payments for faked injuries, staged burglaries and arson. An estimated $5 million has been funneled to the PLO since 1970 through these methods. Some 60 Arab students have already been arrested in California on this charge.

The ZOA leader said the investigation should be conducted by the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the insurance companies and the appropriate Congressional committees.

URGES STEPS TO RECOVER FUNDS

Sternstein said that any Arab student found guilty of participating in the insurance fraud should be expelled from the United States and legal action should be taken to recover the funds from the PLO. He also called for an investigation of all Arab students in the U.S. to determine if they were connected with the insurance frauds.

Sternstein also urged an investigation of all PLO representatives in the U.S. to see if they were connected with the frauds and an investigation of American citizens who may have participated in this. He demanded that the State Department reject any request by the PLO to open an office in Washington or any other city.

“The international criminal activities of the PLO, extended by the use of agents within the United States, confirms that American foreign policy is correct in refusing to recognize the PLO, as is the State of Israel’s determination not to deal with international criminals,” Sternstein said.