Mark Zirkind
Canadian Hasidic Chabad rabbi and convicted drug money courier
| Mark Zirkind
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Rabbi, family business operator |
| Known for | Conviction for transporting over $1 million in drug proceeds; father of convicted money launderers Benzion and Zalman Zirkind |
Mark Zirkind is a Canadian Hasidic rabbi of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement from Montreal who was convicted in 2014 of transporting more than CAD$1.1 million in cash proceeds from international drug trafficking.[1] He is the father of Benzion Zirkind and the brother of Zalman Zirkind, both later convicted in the United States for related money laundering offences tied to the same criminal networks.[2]
Zirkind was arrested in Toronto in 2014 after police stopped his rental car on a highway leading to Montreal and discovered $1,136,555 in cash hidden in duffle bags. Traces of cocaine were found on the money and throughout the vehicle. At trial he claimed the cash was “Shoah Gelt” – money being moved for safekeeping on behalf of European and Asian Jews who feared another Holocaust – and that he had been asked to transport it by a man named “Avrum Reish” as an act of religious charity (mitzvah). The jury rejected this defence and convicted him of possession of property obtained by crime. He was sentenced to four years in a federal penitentiary in Saskatchewan. His appeal, arguing he was merely a “simple courier” and the sentence was too harsh, was dismissed by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2019; the court ruled that the evidence showed he acted for profit and knew the money came from drug trafficking.[1][3]
Family and Chabad connections
The Zirkind family has deep roots in Montreal’s Chabad-Lubavitch community. Mark Zirkind’s brother, Zalman Zirkind, served for many years as secretary and director of the Colel Chabad Lubavitch Foundation of Israel, a Montreal-based Chabad charity later revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency in 2022 amid serious compliance failures and suspected money laundering links. Mark’s son Benzion Zirkind was also convicted in a related US federal money laundering case in 2021. The family’s criminal activities spanned Canada and the United States and involved laundering proceeds from international narcotics trafficking through networks in New York, Hong Kong, Israel, Colombia and Mexico.[2][4]
Criminal activities and sentencing
Mark Zirkind admitted to making multiple prior trips transporting large sums of cash between Toronto and Montreal. Police evidence included cocaine residue on the cash bundles and vehicle surfaces. The trial judge described the offence as serious and noted that Zirkind’s religious background did not mitigate his knowing participation in the laundering of criminal proceeds. After serving his sentence he returned to the Montreal Chabad community, though the family’s wider involvement in similar schemes continued through his relatives.[1]
See also
Zalman Zirkind Benzion Zirkind Colel Chabad Lubavitch Foundation of Israel Chabad-Lubavitch
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Michele Mandel, MANDEL: Drug money courier claimed cash was for Jews fearing Holocaust Toronto Sun, 17 May 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lost Messiah, Chabad Lubavitch and Drug Money – Cash for Jews Fearing Holocaust Lost Messiah, 7 June 2019.
- ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, Banknotes in my car were 'Shoah Gelt', Strictly Orthodox drugs trafficker claims The Jewish Chronicle, 14 June 2019.
- ↑ Mondo Weiss, A look at five pro-Israel organizations that lost charitable status in Canada Mondo Weiss, 11 November 2024.