Two readers have notified us in regards to a rather questionable conversion:
There has also been mention of this on this blog!
As we have previously advised we need to substantiate serious allegations which has 
now been done.

These are the facts:
Some years ago a young non Jewish girl by the name of Avigail Cassell approached 
the Melbourne Beth Din to convert to Judaism. She was told the standard procedure 
and was given a list of teachers who were  approved by the Melbourne Beth Din. 
Shortly after quite a number of concerns starting coming to the attention of the Beth Din.

These issues we are aware of, have had them confirmed but do not feel we should make 
them public. Five prominent  senior Rabbanim from the Melbourne Rabbinate were 
consulted and the unanimous decision was not to go ahead with her Geirus.  
Numerous Rabbonim were hassled and pestered over a lengthy period but the 
Rabbonim would not budge and would not convert her as per advice from overseas.

Ms Cassell then moved to Sydney where she applied to the Sydney Beth Din to convert
to Judaism. After more than a year of her arguing, pressuring, threatening the Sydney 
Beth Din plus other prominent Rabbonim, she was told that she would not be converted 
by the Sydney Beth Din either.

Ms Cassell was engaged to an American Israeli named Netanel. This Netanel was told in 
Israel that the only person who could help to convert Avigail is a Rabbi called Meir Rabi. 
Netanel was told that Rabi has a history of antagonising the local Rabbonim and he is a 
rebel who will probably help if the other Rabbis say not to. Netanel also threatened 
numerous Sydney Rabbonim.

Within a couple of weeks of Meir Rabi meeting Avigail the conversion was carried out. 
Meir Rabi had a letterhead printed pretending to be an official beth din, calling himself 
Harav HaGaon Meir Rabi, Rosh Beth Din and the other two memebers of the Beth Din 
were his business partner Kalmen Gradman (who was given the title Rabbi), and a third 
gentleman by the name of Yitzchak Micha'el. Both of these gentlemen, Gradman and 
Micha'el, cannot halachically be part of a Beth Din for conversion. Kalman Gradman 
admitted in court that he stole over $300,000 while an insurance broker which were 
premiums from his clients (the vast majority of these were of the Jewish faith) 
this offence disqualifies him from being part of a conversion Beis Din. Yitzchak 
Micha'el is himself a convert which disqualifies him from converting others.

Meir Rabi knew that no Mikveh would allow him to come with his two mates to convert 
someone, so the 3 of them took Avigail to the Brighton City Baths to use as a mikvah, 
where she did the tevilla and they "converted" her.

48 hours later in a hush hush ceremony the couple were married.