Posted on 08/07/2004 12:51:15 PM PDT by Destro
Israeli suspects face immigration hearing
Emma Poole and Suzanne Wilton
Calgary Herald
Friday, August 06, 2004
As many as 15 Israelis in Calgary are being linked to a door-to-door art scam that has for years puzzled authorities on both sides of U.S.-Canada border and raised the spectre of international espionage.
At least two of the foreigners were detained in Calgary and today will face the Immigration and Refugee Board. The board will determine whether they will be deported and banned from the country.
Guy Grinberg and Jacky Yakov Sr., believed to be in their 30s, are accused of working illegally in Canada.
The two were picked up Wednesday at a southeast car rental agency. They were allegedly peddling fake artwork at inflated prices.
Their arrest was followed by the roundup of more than a dozen other Israelis, who were questioned by authorities and then released. Their passports were seized.
This is the third time in a year immigration agents in Calgary have detained Israelis posing as art students. Similar incidents have unfolded in Saskatoon, Toronto and Ottawa during the same period.
But what exactly the supposed students are doing here remains a mystery, one that has intrigued law enforcement and intelligence agencies across Canada and the United States.
"I would assume that whether it's innocent or otherwise, it's the sort of thing that security agencies in both countries would or should be at least looking into," Canada's former top spy, Reid Morden, said Thursday from New York.
Three years ago, the U.S. National Counterintelligence Executive warned Americans about Israelis posing as art students who were targeting senior U.S. officials at home, adding it's possible the groups were comprised of non-Israelis posing as citizens of that country and connected to Islamic fundamentalist organizations.
Media and Internet sources have speculated on the theory that the art student guise is being used as a front for a sophisticated spy ring.
The Washington Post ran a story in 2002 citing a Drug Enforcement Agency report that 120 young Israelis, posing as art students and selling paintings door-to-door, had been arrested and deported from the U.S.
But no one has ever been able to determine whether the supposed students were running a bogus art scam or a spy ring.
Regardless, their stories tugged at the heart strings of victims, who handed over thousands of dollars for worthless works of art.
Tales of victimization and strife in Israel caught Calgarian Enrico Festa "hook, line and sinker."
The Lion's Den Restaurant owner said a man first approached him about buying a painting in August 2003.
Festa said the man told him he was an Israeli art student who had recently fled the Middle East after a stint in the national military.
"He said they wanted to get away from all the violence and heartache in Israel," said Festa, who eventually forked over $120 for a scenic ocean portrait after being approached a second time. "It was well rehearsed, and they have the ability to show emotion."
During the sales pitch, the student engaged Festa in a political debate about the Middle East, he said.
Months later, when a pretty young woman, an art portfolio tucked under her arm, came to his door once again with a similar story, he relented.
"It was a nice little pitch," he said, adding the woman told him she was raising money to open an art gallery in downtown Calgary.
Jay Baydala didn't fall for the story.
"They introduced themselves to us as representatives of a school in Israel," said Baydala, whose office is down the street from the Lion's Den on Macleod Trail.
"They needed (the money) to set up a gallery in Vancouver."
It wasn't until after Calgary police issued a warning about the door-to-door art scam last week that Festa realized he'd been had.
He has turned over to immigration authorities the returned personal cheque he used to pay for the art, which was made out to Moran Marilus and cashed.
Immigration officials, meantime, remain tight-lipped about the case.
"None of the information is in the public domain at this time and an investigation is still continuing," said Richard Huntley, acting director for Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Calgary.
Huntley refused to confirm whether agents with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service were involved.
With so many similar incidents occurring across the country, Morden, the head of CSIS from 1987 to 1991, said Canada's spy agency should look into the situation, if it hasn't already.
"They would be irresponsible if they didn't look at it, at least to reassure themselves these people are who they say they are."
A CSIS spokeswoman would not confirm its agents interviewed the Israeli citizens detained in Calgary. "We don't comment on any operational issues whatsoever," said Kathryn Locke.
Members of Calgary's Jewish community were surprised to learn of the scam.
"The behaviour of any individual belonging to any group should never be seen as a reflection on the group as a whole," said Nelson Halpern, president of the Calgary Jewish Community Council.
epoole@theherald.canwest.com
swilton@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2004
Antone got a link..
Selling crap at inflated prices is the exclusive domain of Mary Kay, Home Interiors, Amway, and the Girl Scouts. Off to Guantameno with them!
Sometimes a scam is just a scam.
Quick! Call Carl Cameron!
And don't eat the brown Ecstacy.
Remember this is Canada. If they were Arabs & soliciting donations for Hammas or Islamic Jihad, this wouldn't be an issue. In fact, they'd probably get featured in a puff piece in some Anti-American, Diversity Crazed Newsrag.
What is "fake" artwork? Do they mean forgeries?
And the Mossad, apparantly.
I don't get it. Where's the scam? Also, nothing in this article refers to any activity that might be considered as spying.
Yeah, I don't get it. Try buying something made of paint on canvas in San Francisco for $120 Canadian and it will be tiny and ugly. Why does the article give no clue as to what sort of alleged misrepresentation was at the heart of this "scam"?
The lame artwork is from (I believe) China and is sold at inflated prices.
So not the Israelis casing a joint?
Absolutely not. Just kids selling cheap Chinese art at inflated prices. Nothing sinister at all, that I can see. I actually enjoyed playing with them, haggling. It was funny. (Didn't buy anything)
This story has always puzzled me. If the issue is them being in the country illegally, that's one thing. If, however, the issue that's causing so much concern is the selling of paintings, I don't get it. Are we supposed to believe that a salesman twisting a few facts is some shocking situation that warrants international concern? They're selling paintings. They're not holding anyone up, forcing anyone to buy, or anything of the sort. There are plenty of far worse scams out there for sure.
FWIW, one of these fellows came into my business a couple years ago. Selling paintings. I bought two of them. Not because of any story he told, but because he had two oil paintings that I liked and, after negotiation, he was willing to sell them for a price I was willing to pay. What's the big deal?
MM
There is speculation that these guys are Israeli intel that use the painting scam as a cover to case joints - why case joints? because the Israelis are following al-Qaeda who case the same joints earlier. In order tp keep their cover they sell paintings if they find a taker. That is the urban legend aspect of it.
Seems very ineffective to me. The best way to "case joints" is to get a job with the janitorial service, not selling black velvet Elvis door to door.
SJ, yonif & Salem please ping your lists while I'm out of town.
If this theory is true....The Israelis don't want detailed blue prints of the joints the way the Muslims do - the Israelis want to see why the Muslims terrorists they are following are casing the joints. Or something like that.
Like I said many times before, the janitorial service is the best way to get a detailed layout. Selling crappy "art" door to door is the least effective.
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