Rabbis on the fiddle again

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Rabbi Fraud Case in Los Angeles Echoes N.J. Scandal


By Linda Sandler, David Voreacos and Edvard Pettersson

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors in Los Angeles leveled charges in 2007 that sound like headlines in a fresh New Jersey corruption scandal: Rabbis in Brooklyn, New York, laundered money for an undercover informant, arranged phony charitable gifts and used secret Israeli bank accounts.

In Los Angeles, U.S. prosecutors charged Naftali Tzi Weisz, grand rabbi of a Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish group, seven other people and five charities with a scheme to evade taxes through use of phony donations. Weisz and four other defendants pleaded guilty today.

The case may prove a window onto New Jersey’s scandal. Defendants in California were charged with tax fraud, an accusation not yet made in New Jersey, and prosecutors in Los Angeles have targeted 100 more co-conspirators. Later indictments in California also provided enhanced details of illegal methods and of people and banks involved.

“The 2007 charges were the beginning of a much larger case we’re investigating,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel O’Brien, who is overseeing the Los Angeles case.

The organization charged has worked with related religious groups “to move money internationally,” he said.What it is it with US Rabbis and money laundering.:)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aK1.Euuzx0c8#

[LRPV]

What is it with focusing on bent rabbis? The recent furor seemed to focus on these scum which lessened the wider view on those involved. Just my thought on this topic.

[RoyB]

What it is it with US Rabbis and money laundering.:)
Why am I not surprised to see you posting this?

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

What is it with focusing on bent rabbis? The recent furor seemed to focus on these scum which lessened the wider view on those involved. Just my thought on this topic.The New Jersey case did focus way to much on the Rabbis rather than the corrupt local politicos probably due to the higher moral and ethical standards we expect of our respective religious leaders.


Why am I not surprised to see you posting this?I really don't know why your surprised but it seems posting anything less than positive about Rabbis or Israel round here puts you under the glaring eye of local Hasbara internerd team.

[Peanut]

Why am I not surprised to see you posting this?

Would you have stopped your whining if somebody else did?

They're criminals. Get over it.

[Connaught Ranger]

Do you really think that such activities are only to be found in the Jewish Faith?

Many Faith's are open to abuse by the people who work in them,

amongst the crimes can be listed Fraud, Swindles, ****** molestation of children & Rape.

So let those who have not sinned, cast the first stone.

Connaught Ranger.

[RoyB]

Would you have stopped your whining if somebody else did?

They're criminals. Get over it.
You're right, they are.
But saying something like -
What is it with US Rabbis and money launderingIs totally inappropriate.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

But saying something like - Is totally inappropriate.If I had said New Jersey politicians are a bunch of crooks would that also be inappropriate or are US Rabbis somehow special.

[Peanut]

If I had said New Jersey politicians are a bunch of crooks would that also be inappropriate or are US Rabbis somehow special.

Bacilluspolymyxa, you seem to be making a generalization about all Rabbis. I also find that fairly inappropriate, and it seems you are posting this article to somehow portray Rabbis as crooks.

There will always be a Sh1tbag or two in every faith, group, organization, etc.


You're right, they are.
But saying something like - Is totally inappropriate.

My apologizes, I thought you were referring to the article.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Bacilluspolymyxa, you seem to be making a generalization about all Rabbis. I also find that fairly inappropriate, and it seems you are posting this article to somehow portray Rabbis as crooks.

There will always be a Sh1tbag or two in every faith, group, organization, etc.



My apologizes, I thought you were referring to the article.The focus is on US Rabbis rather than Rabbis in general. When was the last time anyone heard of a group of Vicars running a money laundering racketp-)

[Invisigoth]

Quite comical to see people complain about generalizations with regard to individuals misrepresenting their faith. Oh the irony.

[RoyB]

If I had said New Jersey politicians are a bunch of crooks would that also be inappropriate or are US Rabbis somehow special.
I can't see how the two fit under the same category.

The focus is on US Rabbis rather than Rabbis in general. When was the last time anyone heard of a group of Vicars running a money laundering racketp-)
And saying that all US Rabbis are involved in money laundering isn't a generalization?
I wonder what will happen if someone will say that all UK Muslims/Sheikh's are advocating and practicing terrorism, or that all US/UK Priests are child molesters..
You're really way off the line here.

[wotsnext]

Quite comical to see people complain about generalizations with regard to individuals misrepresenting their faith. Oh the irony.
Indeed.......p-)

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

I can't see how the two fit under the same category.

And saying that all US Rabbis are involved in money laundering isn't a generalization?
I wonder what will happen if someone will say that all UK Muslims/Sheikh's are advocating and practicing terrorism, or that all US/UK Priests are child molesters..
You're really way off the line here.OK boss what if I modify my statement to "some US Rabbis" would that sit better with you?
And if your so keen on avoiding generalizations you could retract your statement quoted below about Israeli Arabs.

Poor them, huh?

Well, the reason for this law is that this group is untrustworthy.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=158292&highlight=RoyB

[IDF_TANKER]

What it is it with US Rabbis and money laundering.:)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aK1.Euuzx0c8#

What is it with you and every single scandal related to Jews you can find on the internet? Just out of curiosity.

[timetraveller]

Quite comical to see people complain about generalizations with regard to individuals misrepresenting their faith. Oh the irony.


X3 .....

D.T is the perfect pressie for weans

[Panchito12]

What it is it with US Rabbis and money laundering.:)


Who cares. They'll just pay off the local Democratic type and they in turn will receive a Presidential pardon. No story here.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

What is it with you and every single scandal related to Jews you can find on the internet? Just out of curiosity.Probably because I spend as much time reading the Israeli press as I do the UK press that I stumble on interesting and salacious articles concerning the lives of the Diaspora, what really surprises me is why you guys don’t post them first. I found this article mentioned in a blog and crime is however despicable usually interesting.
And to be fair its not every article I just don’t have the time to follow all of them.

[IDF_TANKER]

Probably because I spend as much time reading the Israeli press as I do the UK press that I stumble on interesting and salacious articles concerning the lives of the Diaspora, what really surprises me is why you guys don’t post them first. I found this article mentioned in a blog and crime is however despicable usually interesting.
And to be fair its not every article I just don’t have the time to follow all of them.

You didn't answer my question, you just asserted it. But whatever, everybody gotta have a hobby, right?

[Mr.K]

Because you're the chosen people! :)
And I personally find it funny, because Rabbis project the image of old, naive, wise, law abiding senior citizens.

[Connaught Ranger]

Because you're the chosen people! :)
And I personally find it funny, because Rabbis project the image of old, naive, wise, law abiding senior citizens.

A Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway, Eamon Casey projected a very pious image as well, until it emerged he was robbing the Diocese blind to pay for the 18 year old kid he had with an American student, years before and stashed in the U.S.A. :roll:

[oldsoak]

If I were a rich man,.... - with respect to John Willians and Chaim Topol...
- sorry, totally off topic but lighthearted....

[DOOMSDAYDEXTER]

The focus is on US Rabbis rather than Rabbis in general. When was the last time anyone heard of a group of Vicars running a money laundering racketp-)

Why is anyone surprised when religious leaders get caught with their fingers in the till? Religion is the ultimate pyramid scheme. All the profits are tax free last time I checked.

Regards

DD

[cltknight]

Brooklyn Rabbi Levy Izhak Rosenbaum was arrested for “trafficking in human body parts,” said Sally Satel in The Wall Street Journal, as part of an FBI corruption dragnet targeting 44 New Jersey–area officials and rabbis. But the bigger crime isn’t Rosenbaum’s alleged scheme to sell for $160,000 a kidney he bought from an Israeli for $10,000—it’s that dialysis-reliant Americans “desperate” for a life-saving kidney can’t legally buy one from a willing donor.

The kidney-selling rabbis probably saw it that way—as “mimicking the divine” by saving lives, said Benyamin Cohen in Slate, albeit illegally and for a tidy profit. For a variety of cultural and religious reasons, Jews don’t donate organs much: a “paltry 8 percent” of Israelis hold organ-donor cards, versus 35 percent of people in most Western nations. That leaves a big market for kidneys and other “transplant tourism.”

Still, there are good reasons that allowing people to pay for organs is “ferociously controversial,” said Larissa MacFarquhar in The New Yorker. Aside from real concerns about safety and exploiting the poor, it wouldn’t even necessarily increase the supply of U.S. transplant kidneys. In practice, most of the small number of for-sale kidneys would probably go to people who would otherwise rely on relatives, as most Americans do now.

There has to be a better solution than the status quo for the 80,000 Americans awaiting a new kidney, said Claire Suddath and Alex Altman in Time. A legal market for organs has pros and cons, but even those who find the idea “repugnant” can cheer that it would put “black-market kidney” outfits like Rabbi Rosenbaum’s out of business.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/98972/Rabbis_and_organ_trafficking

Very sad to see scumbags Hijacking noble religions.

[timetraveller]

Why is anyone surprised when religious leaders get caught with their fingers in the till? Religion is the ultimate pyramid scheme. All the profits are tax free last time I checked.

Regards

DD


What was the name of the US preacher that got jailed for fraud a few yr back he also had his own tv show ...

[GiladS]

What it is it with US Rabbis and money laundering.:)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aK1.Euuzx0c8#

And what is it with *** scandals in Roman Catholic and Protestant churches?

:roll:

I guess we can conclude that rotten apples will exist in every community.

[cltknight]

What was the name of the US preacher that got jailed for fraud a few yr back he also had his own tv show ...

Ted Haggard?

[ronnieraygun]

What was the name of the US preacher that got jailed for fraud a few yr back he also had his own tv show ...

Probably Jim Baker, PTL Industries.


Ted Haggard?

Nah, he was "fraudulent" for saying what a good hetero family guy he was while huffing dong and possibly smoking meth, too, but I don't think he swindled millions of dollars off old ladies.

[Mr.K]

A Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway, Eamon Casey projected a very pious image as well, until it emerged he was robbing the Diocese blind to pay for the 18 year old kid he had with an American student, years before and stashed in the U.S.A. :roll:

What are you trying to prove?

[California Joe]

He's trying to say that all religions are chock full o' ****heads that use their power to enhance their standing societally, financially, ******ly...anything but religiously...It's human frailty, and it effects everyone, even the clergy.

[Isaac Kasabian]

OK boss what if I modify my statement to "some US Rabbis" would that sit better with you?
And if your so keen on avoiding generalizations you could retract your statement quoted below about Israeli Arabs.


http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=158292&highlight=RoyB

There's clearly a difference between the two.

Generally speaking the majority of Israeli Arabs are against the state and try always to "resist", after all they call the birth of Israel, the Naqba (day of the catastrophe).
On the other hand you don't see the majority of US rabbis doing money laundry or other criminal activity do you?

Can you see the difference now? duh!

[therifleman]

Can we all just say that there are a few bad apples in every major religion (Money laundering rabbis, ******ly deviant priests/preachers, Muslim extremists) that certainly do not characterize the vast majority, and just call it a day?

[ozumn]

Can we all just say that there are a few bad apples in every major religion (Money laundering rabbis, ******ly deviant priests/preachers, Muslim extremists) that certainly do not characterize the vast majority, and just call it a day?

We can, but it seems to me like when rabbis come up all hell breaks up.

[Mr.K]

We can, but it seems to me like when rabbis come up all hell breaks up.

No, pedophile priests topic was pretty popular and still is, but the rabbis, they are just so gangsta.p-)

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

And what is it with *** scandals in Roman Catholic and Protestant churches?

:roll:

I guess we can conclude that rotten apples will exist in every community.And it was discussed at great length on this forum, and every single post expressed revulsion at their behaviour and nobody was playing devils advocate or trying to run a defence.

[GiladS]

And it was discussed at great length on this forum, and every single post expressed revulsion at their behaviour and nobody was playing devils advocate or trying to run a defence.

Did anyone on this thread try to condone these crimes? No.

The fact of the matter is that you made a tactless statement, whether on purpose or not I don't know.

However it remains the reason you didn't receive the desirable reactions to this thread (or did you?).

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Did anyone on this thread try to condone these crimes? No.

The fact of the matter is that you made a tactless statement, whether on purpose or not I don't know.

However it remains the reason you didn't receive the desirable reactions to this thread (or did you?).There was no expected reaction to this thread it is just simply an interesting crime story (any fiscal crime grabs my attention) though I could have chose a better post title. I am not an overly liberal or PC type of person so did not think that the title would disappoint forum members in both Israel and Australia as the subject was concerning the US.