“He is the most generous person I know,” Yaffe added. “If he wants to start giving money to the poor families should I not take money from him? How could I not?”
Above: Rabbi Yossi Yaffe
The (Connecticut) Shoreline Times reports:
Despite questions raised about the major sponsor of the Jewish Festival held this past weekend, Chabad of the Shoreline would “absolutely” welcome the local businessman’s donation for next year, said Rabbi Yosse [sic] Yaffe.
Some residents were wondering how a local businessman, who reached a multimillion dollar settlement with the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission in January over alleged deceptive and unfair marketing and sales practices, has enough money to be a major sponsor of the festival that was held this weekend.
Businessman Boris Mizhen said last week that he has been the primary sponsor of the Shoreline Jewish Festival in each of the nine years it has been held. The festival was held on the Green this past Sunday.
Yaffe added, “He’s satisfied the government, he’s admitted no guilt.” The festival is run by Chabad of the Shoreline, and Yaffe is its director and spiritual leader.
Mizhen and his wife, Angelina Strano, were hit with a $32.72 million judgment against them as part of a 2011 federal lawsuit against their Branford businesses, LeanSpa LLC, NutraSlim LLC and NutraSlim U.K. Ltd.
But the couple said they didn’t have the money to pay the full cost of the settlement, so state and federal officials struck a deal to have a court-appointed receiver oversee the sale of certain real estate of Mizhen and Strano, as well as the liquidation and transfer of other assets.
Because of the settlement, several Shoreline residents raised questions about the propriety of having the festival sponsored by Mizhen and how he could afford to pay. A letter to the New Haven Register called attention to the issue. None of those individuals was willing to be identified or speak on the record for this story.
“I am overjoyed when people want to do good,” Yaffe said, noting that Mizhen had donated $10,000 a month for three years to Chabad for food cards to go to needy families.
“He is the most generous person I know,” Yaffe added. “If he wants to start giving money to the poor families should I not take money from him? How could I not?”
Yaffe, however, declined to say how much Mizhen paid to sponsor the festival, but said “Every year, he is the largest donor.”
In the legal matter, the liquidation brought in upward of $7 million. Jaclyn Falkowski, a spokeswoman for Attorney General George Jepsen, said that Mizhen “remains in compliance with both the injunctive and financial provisions of his settlement with the state and the Federal Trade Commission.”
“We continue to monitor this compliance, as we do with all settlements and judgments,” Falkowski said.
Mizhen, reached at his Sachem Head home, said he has other businesses that were not subject to the settlement with the state and federal governments.
“We used money from those businesses to sponsor the festival,” Mizhen said. He declined to say what other types of business that he operates.
Mizhen said that as part of the settlement, he and his wife, as well as the companies that were the subject of the lawsuit, admitted no wrongdoing.