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Numerous sources are reporting that Jacob Ostreicher has been released from Bolivia, and has arrived in the United States.

Report: Jacob Ostreicher Released from Bolivia

Numerous sources are reporting that Jacob Ostreicher has been released from Bolivia, and has arrived in the United States.

Ostreicher, an Orthodox Jewish businessman from New York, was arrested in Bolivia while overseeing a rice-growing operation he had invested in. He was held without charge for over a year in one of Bolivia’s most notorious prisons.

About a year ago, he was transferred by a judge to house arrest within the city of Santa Cruz.

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11 Comments

  • CH'er

    mazal tov……

    hope its true wonderful news .. may he and all his family included in all of klal yisroel hear and witness only good news

  • way to go

    New York – Almost one year to the day after he was freed from prison in Bolivia and nearly two and a half years since his incarceration in South America, Brooklyn businessman Yanky Ostreicher has returned to the United States.A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Ostreicher was no longer in Bolivia, according to AP reports, which offered no further details on how Ostreicher left the country.
    As of Monday, Bolivian government officials said they had no knowledge of any plans for Ostreicher’s departure.
    Bolivian Deputy Interior Minister Jorge Perez said it would’ve been difficult for Ostreicher to leave the country, given the media attention to his case. Col. Edmundo Rivero, head of police in the city of Santa Cruz, where Ostreicher had been under house arrest, said he was checking with immigration authorities to determine whether the American left the country.
    Conflicting reports are continuing to emerge about how Ostreicher left the country, where he was jailed on suspicion of money laundering, as previously reported on VIN News.
    Family members contacted The Associated Press early on Monday saying they hadn’t heard from Ostreicher in a few days and feared he had been kidnapped. Later, brother Aron Ostreicher called saying his brother might be in the U.S. The brother then stopped answering his phone and email.
    One member of the Ostreicher family posted an update on Facebook this afternoon saying that Ostreicher was safe in California, and that he was freed in a rescue mission backed by actor Sean Penn, who had advocated for Ostreicher’s freedom, both in Bolivia and at congressional hearings, on humanitarian grounds.
    But in a VIN News interview, Ostreicher’s daughter, Chaya Gitty Weinberger, said that her father had been kidnapped and held ransom by unknown parties in Bolivia.
    “He was missing for close to a week,” Mrs. Weinberger told VIN News. “They contacted my father’s office in Bolivia and they spoke to an uncle, Aaron Ostreicher, who negotiated with them. They dropped my father in international Pacific waters and from there he was taken to an undisclosed location in the United States.”
    Mrs. Weinberger did not know the exact amount of ransom that was paid for Ostreicher’s release and said that while Aaron Ostreicher has spoken with her father, she has not yet been able to do so.
    “I am beyond overjoyed,” said Mrs. Weinberger. “I can’t wait to hear his voice. I know that he is sick but Baruch Hashem he is back here and we will take care of him.”
    Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who has been an outspoken voice for Ostreicher’s release, expressed his overwhelming joy on today’s events.
    “I thank Hashem that Yanky Ostreicher is back in the United States,” said Hikind. “The family has gone through a lot and as difficult as it is, he will be able to continue living beyond this horrible ordeal that he went through.”
    Mrs. Weinberger said that she was unaware of any possible involvement by Penn in her father’s release, but details are continuing to emerge on this unfolding story and to date, no one has confirmed that they have seen Ostreicher, knows who he is with or his current location.

  • galitzianer

    Recently looking through my papers, i found an uncashed check from about 8 years ago, sent to me as a donation to my chabad house in South America (not Bolivia)
    Who was it from? Jacob Ostreicher!!
    i dont recall ever meeting him, so i have no idea how or why his check came to me, niether do i know how or why it was misplaced and not cashed?
    Anyway, welcome home and mazal tov! hagomel lechayovim toivois…

  • SM RUBASHKIN HAS BEEN FRAMED

    PEOPLE DON’T GET IT SM RUBASHKIN HAS BEEN FRAMED,I AM NOT AT LIBERTY TO SAY HOW I KNOW.THE OU WASN’T HAPPY WITH THE RUBASHKIN METHROD,BUT THE US WANTED IT DONE A CERTAIN WAY,SO THE MEAT DID NOT GET DIRTY,THERE WERE A FEW OTHER REASON,NOT FROM THE GOV’T,IT’S A SHAME,YIDDEN CON’T TO FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES,PLEASE CON’T TO SAY TEHILLIM FOR HIM TO BE FREE. SEREL CHANA MANESS,IF WE WANT THE GEULA,WE NEED TO GET OUR ACT TOGETHER

  • K

    His former wife says he could have left a year ago but wasn’ t ready (to give up the money invested in the business).

    It cost him his marriage..