The leader of the fringe haredi Orthodox sect Lev Tahor may have used false evidence to gain refugee status in Canada, a Canadian documentary reported.
Ottawa’s granting of refugee status to Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans was based in part on testimony paid for by the sect, a boy involved at the hearing told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. program “the fifth estate.”
The documentary, which aired Friday, alleged that Shai Fima, the boy who was at the center of Helbrans’ 1996 kidnapping conviction in the United States, was paid $5,000 to appear on videotape at Helbrans’ hearing denying that he was kidnapped and saying the rabbi was being unfairly persecuted.
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