Carmen Weinstein is safe and sound at home in her native city of Cairo. Carmen
Weinstein is in Switzerland on vacation but will soon return to Egypt to prove
her innocence of charges of fraud. Carmen Weinstein is a fugitive from the law
who fled Egypt in a secret operation by the Mossad to an undisclosed Western
country where she has taken refuge.
Over the past two weeks conflicting
and sometimes outlandish reports have emerged in the media over the whereabouts
of Weinstein, the 82-year-old head of Egypt’s tiny Jewish community, who was
recently convicted of fraud in a controversial trial some claim was
fixed.
Last week the Egyptian daily Azzaman reported she had left the
country in order to avoid a three-year prison sentence for fraud with the help
of the Mossad, setting off a flood of anti-Semitic talkbacks on its
Website.
However, yesterday the Foreign Ministry which has been
monitoring the situation told The Jerusalem Post that the leader of the
community which now consists of no more than a few dozen elderly women is still
in Cairo.
“She never left,” a spokesman said. “There’s nothing new to
report, but we’re satisfied that the media is taking an interest in her case
because this is an issue of concern.”
At the same time credible sources
in the Egyptian capital said Weinstein was in Switzerland on her annual trip and
would be back by the end of the summer for her appeal.
So, where in the
world is Carmen Weinstein? The octogenarian did not answer an e-mail inquiry
yesterday.
However, Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, told
the Post she was still in Egypt and that he had spoken to her on the phone last
week.
According to Mazel, Weinstein’s entire trial was conducted in
absentia without her knowledge. According to the indictment, she sold a plot of
land on which a synagogue stands to a businessman but after the deal was done
she refused to put the deed under his name or return his money.
The judge
found her guilty sentencing her to three years in prison and a fine of
$1,800.
“There’s a serious suspicion that the claimant rigged it, perhaps
bribing an official,” he said. “It seems like there was a trick.” Furthermore,
Mazel drew a connection between the recent trial of two Egyptian parliament
members accused of forging deeds of Jewish-owned property and the Weinstein
case, suggesting it might be a cover up.
“A year ago there was a major
trial of two parliament members who were charged alongside a contractor for
allegedly forging deeds of five plots owned by the Jewish community,” Mazel
said.
“The court found the parliament members innocent but convicted the
contractor.
How could it be that the two lawmakers were innocent but the
contractor guilty? How could these five Jewish-owned plots be disconnected from
the Weinstein case? I therefore raise the suspicion that the Weinstein trial may
have been orchestrated to distract public opinion in Egypt from these
forgeries.”
In the meantime Weinstein, who is said to be in ill health,
is expected to appeal her conviction in an Egyptian court.
“I believe
she’s innocent – she must appeal,” Mazel said. “There’s a limit to everything.”