Woman Who Faked Being Jewish To Avoid Extradition Convicted Of Murder
(JTA) — A Puerto Rican woman who falsified documents to show she was Jewish and explored moving to Israel in order to avoid extradition from Italy to the United States was found guilty of murder by a U.S. court.
Aurea Vazquez Rijos was convicted Wednesday of offering millions of dollars to a hitman who killed her husband, Adam Anhang, less than a day after he said he wanted a divorce.
She subsequently sued Anhang’s parents in order to receive the $8 million she was owed under the couple’s prenuptial agreement and fled to Italy, where prosecutors alleged that she fabricated documents to prove she was Jewish and began making legal inquiries regarding whether or not Israel had an extradition agreement with the United States.
Vazquez’s sister and ex-boyfriend, as well as the hitman, also were convicted.
“These people thought they could get away with murder,” Anhang’s father, Abraham, told The Associated Press. “It’s been a long haul. They’ve been evading arrest, evading the law, evading taking responsibility and pretending they had nothing to do with it.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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