Sholam Weiss

Sholam Weiss (born 1954) is an American convicted fraudster.

In 2000, Weiss was sentenced to 845 years in prison for racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and other charges in connection to the collapse of the National Heritage Life Insurance Company. He and other defendants engaged in an immense scheme that siphoned off $450 million from the company, resulting in what was believed to be the largest insurance company failure ever caused by criminal acts.

In 1994, Weiss was indicted on mail fraud charges and found guilty, for which he served eight months in prison. Weiss had falsely claimed that more than $1 million worth of bathtubs had been damaged in a 1986 warehouse fire.

In 1990, the insurer was taken over by fraudsters who paid for the company with a check for $4 million, although they did not actually have $4 million.

Trial, sentencing and flight

Weiss rejected a government offer of a plea deal in which he would have served five years in prison, and chose to go to trial. In addition to Weiss, 15 other defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted in the fraud case by the time he was sentenced, and several were serving long prison terms. Weiss shaved his beard, lost weight, used prepaid phones and created false identities to avoid detection. During this time he lived an extravagant lifestyle and spent money on fine dining, gambling and prostitution. At the time of his extradition, Weiss was believed by the FBI to have control of $250 million stolen from National Life.

On January 19, 2021, President Donald Trump commuted Weiss's sentence, in one of the 70 pardons and 73 sentence commutations issued on his last full day in office. A White House statement said that Weiss "has already served over 18 years and paid substantial restitution. He is 66 years old and suffers from chronic health conditions."

In an editorial, The Washington Post criticized the commutation, noting that Weiss had "skipped town before his verdict, forcing federal officers to track him across continents", and opined that "of the inmates in federal prison, he is among the least deserving".