As the Sanz chassidic community prepared for a chasnah of a son of the Rebbe Shlita, con artists had other plans, which ultimately permitted them to make off with NIS 300,000 worth of materials.

As the large tent was set into place for the simcha, as is common for a wedding of this size in Eretz Yisrael, a truck arrived on Wednesday to drop off 700 tables and 6,000 plastic chairs. The chassidim involved in the preparation for the chasnah were on hand, and some even assisted in unloading the chairs.

About an hour later, another truck arrived, this one empty, and the workers explained the drop off of the tables and chairs was a mistake, intended for another location. The chassidim were unsuspecting, and the workers loaded the thousands of chairs and hundreds of tables, then driving off.

Not too long afterwards, an official of the rental company arrived and asked for a signature to confirm receipt of the tables and chairs. They were confused, explaining the second truck that was sent took all the rental furniture away. The picture then became clear; realizing they second truck was occupied by con artists, thieves, who made off with everything.

To make things worse, it was learned that the persons who placed the order, disguised as chassidim from the Sanz community, were not actually representatives of the Rebbe or the community. They took advantage of the trust of the rental company, as well as the naiveté of the chassidim, and perpetrated the sting. Officials of the Sanz community promised to do their utmost to assist the owner of the company who lost NIS 300,000 worth of equipment. Police are investigating.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)