Fischman Follow-Up

We have received quite a number of calls and emails asking for an update on Five Towns resident Aaron D. Fischman and the status of his case.

Fischman, as you might know, was jailed on December 17 for violating his condition of discharge after pleading guilty three years ago to stealing more than $13 million from unassuming victims of his concocted investment scams. I know a lot about it because I was a victim as were many others that I know.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James said that in her investigation, she found he had taken more than $70 million from people, many in the Five Towns. Fischman was accused of stealing $22 million and finally charged with taking $13.7 million, to which he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to making remuneration of just $2 million over three years. He made the first payment of $1 million after the plea deal, but three years passed and he skipped the due date of December 15 for the final payment. He showed up with his attorney on December 17 and was promptly arrested and jailed.

Aaron, who had once had an office down the hall from the 5TJT, has been in a jail cell since then. A hearing is scheduled for January 30. By that time, it might be too late to come up with the second million-dollar payment, which would make things good for Fischman.

According to some attorneys who were involved in the matter in the past, it’s no longer about money. It’s about his disrespecting and violating the law and the conditions of his discharge, which could conclude with a prison sentence of up to seven years.

And it is really no longer about his additional violation of the law, but about evidence that the AG’s office has accumulated over the last few years that illustrate how, despite his guilty plea and conviction, Fischman was going about the same activities taking money from innocent people for bogus investments.

Aaron and his wife, Nina, have been living in a bubble for the last 30 years, said a former confidant as well as victim of the couple. The former neighbor says they seem shocked and devastated that the bubble has finally burst and that even coming up with the money may not be enough to spare Aaron from a prison sentence.

Aaron thought that he was indestructible and that he could get away with any kind of scam. Not only does he now have to come up with at least $1 million or more, but the many charities he so generously supported will most likely have to face having to return a great deal of the money he donated, and may also find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to reimburse the people whose money was taken so unscrupulously by Fischman.

It’s easy to get the impression that Fischman thought that by giving tzedakah with other people’s money that somehow, he would be Divinely protected. All in all, it’s a terrible sad and tragic tale. The Fischmans are currently being evicted from their Woodmere home and have already lost homes in Jerusalem and the Catskills.

People who know Aaron claim that he allegedly does not know what he did wrong. To these people, it seems as though Fischman thought these were legitimate investments where large sums of money were lost. As is usually the case with elaborate scams of this nature, people on the inside know that none of that is true. They remain mostly silent and hope that it all goes away. The question, however, is who is going to be going away first, the story about the deceptive investments or Aaron doing time paying for his crime. 

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.