'Indiana Jones' rabbi accused of fraud

NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A Maryland rabbi described as the "Jewish Indiana Jones" is accused of fraud for allegedly making-up stories of finding Torahs in former concentration camps.

Menachem Youlus, 50, was arrested Wednesday in New York City on federal fraud charges for allegedly misrepresenting the origin of Torahs sold through his "Save a Torah" organization and then pocketing some of the money, The New York Times reported.

Youlus is accused by U.S. postal inspectors of taking more than $340,000 of the $1.2 million collected by the charity, the newspaper said.

U.S. Postal Inspector Greg Ghiozzi said in court documents he could find no evidence Youlus found Torahs at the sites of the Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

Court documents said Youlus had described himself as someone who put himself at great risk and incurred a large amount of debt on his expeditions to rescue the Torahs.

"I guess you could call me the Jewish Indiana Jones," he wrote in 2004.

Youlus was released on $100,000 bail after an appearance Wednesday in federal court. Attorney Paul Rooney said his client denies the accusations, the newspaper said.

A January 2010 article in The Washington Post Magazine had questioned the origins of several Torahs the rabbi had claimed to have discovered, The New York Times said.