Montreal lawyer barred from making ‘Nazi gold’ claims about ex-business partner’s family
Glenn Feldman’s pleadings conceded his allegations about US$2.6-billion worth of gold bars stolen from Holocaust victims were fictitious
A Quebec court has granted an interlocutory injunction preventing a Montreal lawyer from communicating about the family of his ex-business partner after he accused them of profiting from billions of dollars worth of gold bars stolen from Holocaust victims by the Nazis.
According to Justice Katheryne Desfossés’ recent ruling, corporate lawyer Glenn Feldman began making the allegations in 2019 after falling out with Irwin Lande, his long-time friend and business partner in the city’s real estate scene.
Lande’s nephews requested the injunction after Feldman linked the estate of their deceased mother – Lande’s sister – to his Nazi gold claims.
In documents filed with the court, the nephews – a urologist based in Ontario and an investment manager from New York – explained that Lande and his sister were actually descended from Holocaust survivors, and that many of their family members had died in concentration camps during the Second World War.
Justice Desfossés granted the interlocutory injunction, which bars Feldman from communicating directly or indirectly “any information, commentary, affirmation or remark” about the nephews or their mother’s estate, after finding that the lawyer’s allegations were “clearly defamatory” and unsupported by any evidence.
“It is difficult to imagine a more detrimental allegation to the reputation of a member of the Jewish community than being accused of inheriting and profiting from a fortune criminally obtained from the victims of the Holocaust,” the judge wrote.
Justice Desfossés’ ruling says that Feldman’s first stories about Lande following their business dispute accused him of possessing gold bars worth millions of dollars, but the value ballooned to US$2.6 billion over time as he spread the story via video and in writing to people that included business contacts, and even the judge in their commercial litigation case.
Feldman alleged that a cousin of the Lande family was an SS officer in charge of gold, art and jewelry seized from Jewish Holocaust victims at Auschwitz, and that he had transferred them to a house in Quebec after immigrating to Canada following the War.
Another twist in Feldman’s tale had Lande and his father forging the cousin’s will so that they would inherit the tainted treasure, according to the decision.
But in his defence to the nephews’ demand for an injunction, Feldman appeared to concede that he had made the story up, writing that he admitted the allegations in various paragraphs of their claim, including the following:
“Feldman’s fictitious and grossly defamatory statements demonstrate that there are no limits to his pursuit of creating a fictitious narrative to accommodate his position, particularly so as the Plaintiffs and Sherry are in fact the descendants of Holocaust survivors, with many family members having perished in concentration camps.”
“Even if the Court were to consider this admission as being ambiguous given the other allegations in the Defense, it certainly raises questions as to Mr. Feldman’s credibility, particularly considering he is a practicing lawyer who litigates from time to time,” Justice Desfossés wrote. “ As for Mr. Feldman’s intent, there is no question that his objective is to destroy Irwin. He says as much in the Videos.”
“The evidence presented is also sufficiently convincing that his intent towards [the nephews] is one of punishment for siding with his enemy Irwin. As such, contrary to Mr. Feldman’s submission, the Court finds that the Allegations aimed at [the nephews] are clearly defamatory and reach the high level bar required to allow the issuance of an interlocutory injunction in similar matters,” she added.
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