Monday, December 31, 2007
Spinka Rabbi and Five Others Plead Not Guilty To Tax Fraud
The leader of an Orthodox Jewish sect and five other men accused of tax fraud and money laundering pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Brooklyn, N.Y., resident Naftali Tzi Weisz, the 59-year-old Grand Rabbi of Spinka, was indicted by a federal grand jury Dec. 18 for allegedly taking part in a scheme that cheated the Internal Revenue Service out of at least $33 million in donations to Spinka charities.
Spinka is the name of a Hasidic sect within Orthodox Judaism. The group is named for the European town along the border of Romania and Hungary where it originated.
The six men were accompanied in court by their attorneys and about five supporters at this morning's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg.
Their trial is scheduled for Feb. 12.
According to the indictment, donors to Spinka charities were paid illegal kickbacks, refunding up to 95 percent of the donations, which were laundered through the Israel-based Mizrahi Bank and businesses in downtown Los Angeles' jewelry district.
The donors then claimed a tax deduction on the full amount, prosecutors said.
Weisz is currently free on $2 million bond.
Other named defendants are Gabbai Moshe Zigelman, 60, also of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Joseph Roth, 66, of Tel Aviv, Israel; Yaacov Zeivald, 43, of Valley Village; Los Angeles residents Alan Jay Friedman, 43, and Yosef Nachum Naiman, 55; as well as five Spinka charities.
All six men face lengthy terms in federal prison if convicted on all charges.
Zigelman and the other defendants are free on bond except for Roth, an assistant manager at Mizrahi Bank, who remains in custody. On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Tillman granted Roth $1.9 million bond, but stayed his decision so prosecutors could appeal it to another judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel O'Brien said Friday that there is a significant risk that Roth will flee to Israel, which has a law forbidding the extradition of its citizens.
http://cbs2.com/local/Orthodox.Jew.Spinka.2.620728.html
The leader of an Orthodox Jewish sect and five other men accused of tax fraud and money laundering pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Brooklyn, N.Y., resident Naftali Tzi Weisz, the 59-year-old Grand Rabbi of Spinka, was indicted by a federal grand jury Dec. 18 for allegedly taking part in a scheme that cheated the Internal Revenue Service out of at least $33 million in donations to Spinka charities.
Spinka is the name of a Hasidic sect within Orthodox Judaism. The group is named for the European town along the border of Romania and Hungary where it originated.
The six men were accompanied in court by their attorneys and about five supporters at this morning's hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg.
Their trial is scheduled for Feb. 12.
According to the indictment, donors to Spinka charities were paid illegal kickbacks, refunding up to 95 percent of the donations, which were laundered through the Israel-based Mizrahi Bank and businesses in downtown Los Angeles' jewelry district.
The donors then claimed a tax deduction on the full amount, prosecutors said.
Weisz is currently free on $2 million bond.
Other named defendants are Gabbai Moshe Zigelman, 60, also of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Joseph Roth, 66, of Tel Aviv, Israel; Yaacov Zeivald, 43, of Valley Village; Los Angeles residents Alan Jay Friedman, 43, and Yosef Nachum Naiman, 55; as well as five Spinka charities.
All six men face lengthy terms in federal prison if convicted on all charges.
Zigelman and the other defendants are free on bond except for Roth, an assistant manager at Mizrahi Bank, who remains in custody. On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Tillman granted Roth $1.9 million bond, but stayed his decision so prosecutors could appeal it to another judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel O'Brien said Friday that there is a significant risk that Roth will flee to Israel, which has a law forbidding the extradition of its citizens.
http://cbs2.com/local/Orthodox.Jew.Spinka.2.620728.html
Comments:
What I want to know is who is their accountant.
Chaim, is that you?
Chaim, is that you?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by 
: December 31, 2007 8:37 PM
: December 31, 2007 8:37 PM
how could the trial be so soon feb 12?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 01, 2008 7:30 AM
: January 01, 2008 7:30 AM
A BIG NEBECH ON THEIR HEADS
NOW IF THEY ARE PROVEN GULTY
ARE THEY GOING TO CLOSE THE SHUL WITCH RAN THESE LAUNDRY BUSINES ON THAT CHARITY NAME?
NOW IF THEY ARE PROVEN GULTY
ARE THEY GOING TO CLOSE THE SHUL WITCH RAN THESE LAUNDRY BUSINES ON THAT CHARITY NAME?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 01, 2008 11:49 AM
: January 01, 2008 11:49 AM
The URL for the CBS article scares me. What does this story have to do with Orthodox Judiasm?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 01, 2008 1:11 PM
: January 01, 2008 1:11 PM
Brutus you are a fool.
The URL says 'Orthodox.Jew'. What's wrong with that?
It's not about Orthodox Judaism, It's an Orthodox jew who was caught, it should have said Orthodox Rabbi, no?
Next you'll say that CBS is anti-semitic, right?
The URL says 'Orthodox.Jew'. What's wrong with that?
It's not about Orthodox Judaism, It's an Orthodox jew who was caught, it should have said Orthodox Rabbi, no?
Next you'll say that CBS is anti-semitic, right?
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 01, 2008 2:51 PM
: January 01, 2008 2:51 PM
when it's a non-Jew that's arrested, does the media write "So-and-so, a religious [Catholic, Baptist, Methodist etc.], was chargeed...."?
Only when it's an Orthodox Jew do they make a point of mentioning it.
Only when it's an Orthodox Jew do they make a point of mentioning it.
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 01, 2008 11:15 PM
: January 01, 2008 11:15 PM
The Spinka Rebbe is Baruch Hashem back home and will feer tish in his shul this Shabbos Parsha Vayairu.Hope to see you all...
Post a Comment
Comment Credit ---This article posted by : January 03, 2008 11:39 PM
: January 03, 2008 11:39 PM
