[ad_1]
(JTA) — A high rabbi in Portugal’s second-largest metropolis has been detained amid an inquiry into how Roman Abramovich, the Russian Jewish oligarch sanctioned this week in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, obtained Portuguese citizenship final 12 months.
Rabbi Daniel Litvak of the Jewish Group of Porto, a corporation representing Jews in that metropolis, was arrested Thursday as he was making ready to depart for Israel, based on the Portuguese information group Publico.
A number of Portuguese companies have been investigating whether or not Abramovich’s citizenship was correctly awarded underneath Portugal’s 2013 legislation permitting naturalization for descendants of Sephardic Jews. The legislation represented an try to atone for the Inquisition, a marketing campaign of non secular persecution in Spain and Portugal within the sixteenth century that compelled tens of hundreds of Jews to to migrate, disguise their Jewish identification or denounce it altogether.
RELATED: Meet the Russian Jewish oligarchs dealing with sanctions due to Putin’s battle
The federal government delegated the duty of vetting functions for citizenship to 2 teams, the Jewish Group of Lisbon and Litvak’s group in Porto. Tens of hundreds of candidates have change into Portuguese residents underneath the legislation, which helped flip Porto right into a Jewish vacation spot.
Abramovich’s citizenship — which gave him a European Union passport for the primary time — raised questions as a result of most Russian Jews are Ashkenazi and don’t have Sephardic roots. However Litvak stated in January that he was sure an investigation would present that his group had assessed Abramovich’s utility as it might anybody else’s.
The Jewish Group of Porto didn’t instantly reply to a question by the Jewish Telegraphic Company about Litvak’s detainment.
Publico reported that investigators are analyzing whether or not “affect peddling, energetic corruption, forgery of paperwork, cash laundering” and different crimes performed a task in how Porto awarded citizenship. Portuguese prison investigators performed further raids Friday, the information group reported.
The inquiry into how the Jewish Group of Porto awarded citizenship to Sephardic Jews started nicely earlier than Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine final month.
However the battle has intensified scrutiny of Abramovich and different folks tied to Putin. On Thursday, the UK, the place he lives and owns the Chelsea soccer membership, positioned him underneath sanctions for the primary time.
Portuguese officers informed Reuters that Abramovich may probably lose his Portuguese citizenship relying on the course of the investigation. Abramovich can be a citizen of Israel.
[ad_2]
Source link
