Jerusalem police have arrested 14 suspects in connection to a car bomb on July 27, which went off on Keren Hayesod Street, in a residential neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The 14 suspects are variously accused of organized crime involving illegal weapons, drug trafficking, and auto theft.

However, several of the gang are suspected of being the masterminds of the Keren Hayesod assassination attempt on Simo Malka’s life. During the operation, a bomb was planted on the underside of the car. When Malka turned onto Keren Hayesod, the bomb detonated, though Malka survived.

Police used cutting edge technology to unravel the case.

Their first break-through came when they managed to identify the car of the assassins, and track its route from the center of Israel to Jerusalem, and back.

Police eventually found the suspects’ car, a stolen vehicle with false license plates. The car was found abandoned in Haifa, full of break-in equipment: gloves, ski masks, hacking tools, and mobile devices.

Police believe that two of the suspects, Arabs from Jaljuliya, traveled on that fateful morning to Malka’s Jerusalem address, and waited for him to leave his home.

When Malka began to drive, and they realized his children were with him, they followed the vehicle until the children got out, and Malka was alone in the car, they left him and began to drive toward the city exit. When he arrived at Maapoh Street, the two detonated the bomb using a remote activation system, which destroyed the car and moderately injured Malka.

At the beginning of August, two of the suspects were caught while fleeing from the police, while they were throwing away drugs in their possession, and driving a stolen car.

Police investigators went on to raid a residential complex in Lod, confiscating weapons, hashish, and more than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine.

Several more suspects were arrested during the operation.

As the investigation continued to progress, the not-yet-detained suspects heard of the police operations, and several attempted to flee into Judea and Samaria.

One suspect was arrested at Rantis Checkpoint when he tried to flee. Another was identified in Judea-Samaria, and was taken down by a special unit in the area.

Overall, police have arrested 14 suspects so far over the course of the investigation, all of whom have had their arrests extended.

Prosecutors have submitted indictments against several of the group for drug possession and trafficking, weapons trafficking, and retaining stolen vehicles.

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Two young men from the predominantly haredi city of Bnei Brak were recently indicted for drug smuggling, after the two were nabbed at Ben Gurion airport upon their return from Europe.

The two suspects reportedly travelled to Belgium, where they received suitcases which they brought back with on their return flight to Israel.

When drugs were discovered in their luggage at customs two weeks ago, the pair were taken into police custody, and later charged with drug smuggling.

The suspects maintain their innocence, claiming that they were unaware of what was inside the suitcases they brought back with them.

Police say the two were carrying 7.5 kilos of cocaine, valued at well over 6 million shekels ($1.7 million).

Despite the suspects’ insistence they were unaware of the contents of the luggage, the two received 40,000 shekels ($10,700) for their services, BeHadrei Haredim reports.

The post Israel – Bnei Brak Residents Arrested For Cocaine Smuggling appeared first on TOTPI.

DNA evidence links an Orthodox Jewish man to the senseless and vicious beating of a gay African-American man, prosecutors said on Monday.

After a night of partying with friends on Dec. 1, 2013, Taj Patterson decided to walk to his Fort Greene home instead of taking the train.

As an allegedly intoxicated Patterson strolled in the street on Flushing Ave. to avoid the rats and garbage on the sidewalks, he heard a scream and saw someone he did not know running towards him.

“He got scared and started running … he was cornered by 5, 6, 7, 8 Orthodox Jewish men, pinned against a gate,” said Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough during his opening statements for Mayer Herskovic’s gang assault trial.

Herskovic’s attorney Israel Fried did not present an opening argument for Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, who is presiding over the non-jury trial.

Videotaped surveillance from three residents on Flushing Ave. was shown on Monday of apparently Orthodox Jewish men running after Patterson around 4:30 a.m.

Patterson, 25, frantically knocked on the windows of two vehicles driving by, pleading with them to let him. Neither stopped.

One of those drivers called 911 around 4:45 a.m. and told the dispatcher it “didn’t seem safe,” said Gough.

Patterson was able to get one arm free and got one punch in before he was thrown to the ground where he was repeatedly kicked, punched and stomped.

During the melee, Patterson’s Nike sneakers were ripped off by Herskovic and thrown on to the roof of 475 Flushing Ave.

Prosecutors said they’ll show Herskovic’s DNA was found on the back of the sneaker.

Prosecutors also intend to call two witnesses who did intervene.

“You’ll hear from Jose Guzman who saw a group of individuals, it was the Hanukkah season, thought they were celebrating — jumping up and down. When he got closer he saw they were stomping on a person,” said Gough.

An MTA bus driver also stopped and took photos which prompted the attackers to leave.

EMTs responded and treated Patterson’s eye, which was swollen shut and looked “like a baseball,” said Gough.

After three surgeries, Patterson was left “virtually blind” in his right eye, the ADA said.

Four of the other defendants’ Pinchas Braver, Abraham Winkler, Joseph Fried and Aharon Hollender were charged, but their cases were either dismissed or reduced to misdemeanor plea agreements.

If convicted, Herskovic faces up to 25 years in prison for the top charge.

The post DNA Evidence Links Orthodox Jewish Shomrim Patrol Member To Vicious Beating of Gay Black Man In Williamsburg appeared first on TOTPI.

HOWELL — Steve Eckel cleared out his car for a shopping trip Monday, but left one item behind: a sledgehammer.

“I thought to myself, I’ll just put it in the garage later,” Eckel, 53, said.

His oversight may have literally proved to be a lifesaver.

Eckel, who retired from the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office in 2013 after a 25-year-career, was heading to the Kohl’s store while three of his six children went shopping for cosmetics.

In the parking lot, Eckel was walking past a woman named Sarah Mazzone, 30, when both heard a baby’s cry, according to Eckel and Howell police.

Both then spotted the infant in a nearby parked vehicle, Eckel said.

“I ran up and tried to open the doors but they were locked,” the Jackson resident said.

Then he remembered the sledgehammer in the back of his vehicle. He ran to retrieve it and then returned to the vehicle with the baby inside as Mazzone, of Howell, called police, Eckel said.

“I tried breaking the window, I hit the corner and it just shattered,” he said. The baby “was red like a tomato, her extremities were just bright red.”

Mazzone moistened a corner of her shirt and cooled the baby down as police headed to the air-conditioned Kohl’s store, where Mazzone and Eckel had brought her, police said.

Eckel was especially concerned, he said, because he feared the temperature inside the vehicle would rise rapidly in the summer afternoon heat.

“The temperature can go up 20 degrees even in 10 minutes on a 90-degree day,” he said.

The fully clothed four-month-old “appeared to be in a great deal of distress” and was sweating profusely on a day when midday temperatures reached into the upper 80s, according to police.

Mazzone and Eckel stayed with the child until the mother, Karen B. Gruen, returned, he said. Gruen had two other young children with her.

Gruen, 33, of Lakewood, “began to panic” when she returned to her vehicle and the infant was not there, police said. The baby had spent 40 minutes inside the car but was in much better condition after being brought into the air-conditioned store, police also said.

Gruen was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and was released pending a court appearance. The baby was turned over to the custody of her father.

“I recognize the civilians who took immediate action to rescue this child, for they truly saved a life,” Chief of Police Andrew Kudrick said.

During his career in law enforcement, Eckel said he had been involved in medical emergencies before, but had never come to the aid of an infant.

“The bottom line is it’s about being human,” he said.

The post Good Samaritans Rescue Lakewood Baby Left In Parked Car While Orthodox Jewish Mom Shopped appeared first on TOTPI.

Rockland County, NY – An embattled councilman for the Town of Ramapo has resigned his position after pleading guilty to a charge of official misconduct.

Under the terms of the plea bargain agreement accepted this afternoon, 71 year old Shmuel Tress also gave up his seat on the Ramapo Town Board and agreed not to seek any future office or position in the town. The Journal News reported that Tress was fined $500 on the misdemeanor charge.

Tress, who was elected to his position on the town council last winter despite an earlier conviction on charges of federal mail fraud, was arrested last March by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

Tress is said to have voted for a zoning change on a housing development on Blauvelt Road in Monsey that he held a financial interest in, even though he had signed an affidavit saying that he would receive no profits from any decisions he made as a member of the town’s zoning board.

While Tress has held elected office only since November, he has been a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for many years. Tress maintains residences in both Lakewood and Monsey and will be replaced by an as yet unnamed individual to be named by the town board.

The post Rockland County, NY – Ramapo Town Councilman Accepts Fines, Resignations And Bans On Holding Public Office In Plea Deal appeared first on TOTPI.

Orange County, NY – Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William J. Bratton, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the filing of a federal criminal complaint charging Shimen Liebowitz and Aharon Goldberg with conspiring to kidnap and murder an individual in order to obtain a religious divorce for that individual’s wife.

Liebowitz and Goldberg were arrested yesterday in Central Valley, New York, while meeting to plan the kidnapping and murder. They will be presented later today before Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman in federal court in Manhattan.

According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

According to Jewish religious law as observed in certain communities, in order to effect a divorce, a husband must provide his wife with a document known as a “get.” A woman whose husband will not consent to a divorce is known as an “agunah.” In the absence of the husband’s issuing a get, an agunah may be released from her marriage only through the husband’s death.

In early July, an individual (the “CS”) contacted the FBI and reported that the CS had been recruited by LIEBOWITZ and Goldberg to kidnap a particular individual (the “Intended Victim”) in order to force the Intended Victim to issue a get to his wife. Like the CS, Goldberg and Liebowitz are orthodox Jews.

Liebowitz is a member of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York (a village in Orange County, New York), and Goldberg is an Israel-based rabbi who also maintains a position of prominence in Kiryas Joel.

The CS provided the FBI with information about a conversation he had with Liebowitz and Goldberg on or about July 6 or July 7. During the meeting, which was recorded, the CS feigned interest in participating in the kidnapping. He, Goldberg, and Liebowitz discussed how such a kidnapping might be carried out, including the possibility of luring the Intended Victim to Pennsylvania in order to kidnap him, torture him, and force him to give the get.

The CS, Goldberg, and Liebowitz also discussed the possibility of kidnapping the Intended Victim in Ukraine, where the Intended Victim planned to travel in late September to celebrate the Jewish New Year. GOLDBERG and Liebowitz agreed to advance the CS $25,000 to assist in efforts to plan the kidnapping.

According to the CS, within days of this initial meeting, an envelope containing approximately $25,000 cash was delivered to the CS.

On or about August 9, 2016, the CS met with LIEBOWITZ and GOLDBERG in Kiryas Joel, New York. During this meeting, the CS, GOLDBERG, and LIEBOWITZ discussed additional details of the kidnapping plan, including logistics and the cost associated with a plan to kidnap the Intended Victim overseas. This conversation was also recorded.

On August 12, 2016, the CS again met with LIEBOWITZ and GOLDBERG, at which time they provided the CS with an additional payment of over $20,000 for use in making arrangements for the kidnapping. In this meeting, which was also recorded, the CS, GOLDBERG and LIEBOWITZ further discussed their plan to kidnap the Intended Victim in the United States and to obtain the get from him in this country.

Subsequent to the August 12, 2016, meeting, the CS had additional conversations with GOLDBERG, in which GOLDBERG discussed his desire not merely to kidnap the Intended Victim, but also to kill him.

On August 25, 2016, the CS met LIEBOWITZ in Central Valley, New York. During the meeting, LIEBOWITZ paid the CS an additional sum of about $12,000 to carry out the kidnapping. Also during the meeting, the CS spoke by phone with GOLDBERG, who was still in Israel, about the kidnapping plan, which the CS and GOLDBERG referred to in code as a “wedding,” as well as GOLDBERG’s desire that the CS kill the Intended Victim. This conversation was also recorded.

On or about September 2, 2016, the CS had another recorded conversation with LIEBOWITZ, during which LIEBOWITZ indicated his understanding that the Intended Victim would be murdered as part of the plan.

LIEBOWITZ, 25, of Monroe, New York, and GOLDBERG, 55, of Bnei Brak, Israel, are charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison, and one count each of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

The post FBI: New York Rabbi Arrested For Conspiring To Kidnap And Murder appeared first on TOTPI.

A Brooklyn DJ who was giving his friends a ride home after a gig testified Wednesday that he rescued a gay African-American man who was getting attacked by a group of Hasidic Jewish men.

“I made a wrong turn and saw a group of men on the sidewalk on my left beating the crap out of young man,” said Jose Guzman, the last prosecution witness in Mayer Herskovic’s gang assault trial.

One of Guzman’s friends thought the group of almost 20 Hasidic Jewish men were jumping up and down on the sidewalk in celebration for Hanukkah during the Dec. 1, 2013 assault on Flushing Ave.in Williamsburg.

“It was completely mayhem,” Guzman said.

He approached the group and was stopped by a participant, later identified at Aaron Hollender, who told him the victim Taj Patterson allegedly hit them first.

Hollender’s case was dismissed in March 2015.

“There was a minimum of 15 Hasidic men holding, kicking, punching and pulling the young man towards the street.

They waved others into the group like ‘tag, you’re it.’ Then I ran into the crowd,” said Guzman.

Patterson, 25, grabbed Guzman’s leg and said “help me” after one of the assailants threw his sneaker and another item on to the roof of 475 Flushing Ave.

Herskovic’s DNA was found on the sneaker.

If convicted, Herskovic faces up to 25 years in prison.

The post Williamsburg Witness Testifies ‘It Was Complete Mayhem’ As Orthodox Jewish Group Attacked GAY Black Man appeared first on TOTPI.

An Israeli rabbi and an acolyte from an Orthodox Jewish community upstate were charged by the feds Tuesday in a scheme to kidnap and kill a fellow member of their sect for refusing to grant his wife a religious divorce.

Rabbi Aharon Goldberg, 55, and Shimen Liebowitz, 25, allegedly recruited a third man and paid him more than nearly $60,000 to carry out the unholy plan.

But the intended hatchet man identified as a fellow Orthodox Jew who “works as a consultant and provides investigative services” blew the whistle to the FBI and secretly recorded Goldberg and Liebowitz conspiring with him, court papers say.

Goldberg and Liebowitz, who are both members of the Hasidic Satmar sect, were busted while meeting in Central Valley on Tuesday to further their “chilling plot,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said.

A complaint filed in Manhattan federal court quotes Liebowitz as saying the intended victim is a taxi driver who occasionally travels to Montreal and could “miss a night, or even two or three” before his family grew concerned.

Early versions of the plot allegedly called for him to be lured to Pennsylvania or kidnapped in the Ukraine where he planned to travel in October for the Jewish New Year and forced to sign a religious divorce document known as a “get.”

But Goldberg later decreed he should instead be killed, telling the feds’ confidential source that “this is my agreement, no other rabbi will agree,” and Liebowitz claiming “his parents will be happy when it happens,” court papers say.

Both men were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder and were ordered held without bail. They face life in the slammer if convicted.

The post Orthodox Rabbi, Woman Plotted To Kidnap and Kill Husband Who Wouldn’t Grant Her A Religious Divorce appeared first on TOTPI.

Two 18-year-old Israeli men who are believed to have earned over $600,000 running a massive cybercrime operation were arrested Thursday, after the FBI alerted Israel Police of their activities.

Itay Huri and Yarden Bidani were released on bail with conditions.

U.S. cybercrime investigator Brian Krebs, a former Washington Post staffer and among the best-known writers on data security in the world, reported last week on his blog about a major cybercrime operation in which Huri and Bidani were implicated.

The Israelis are allegedly behind vDOS, a web service that helps customers carry out so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) for the purpose of knocking websites offline.

Such DDoS attacks work by flooding the targeted website from multiple computers until it crashes. It’s as if millions of callers tried to dial the same phone number simultaneously.

Krebs’ report was based on data KrebsOnSecurity.com obtained in late July after vDOS was itself hacked, “spilling secrets about tens of thousands of paying customers and their targets,” as Krebs wrote.

The service was responsible for several of the largest DDoS attacks carried out in recent years.

According to Krebs, Huri and Bidani “market their service mainly on the site hackforums[dot]net, selling monthly subscriptions using multiple pricing tiers ranging from $20 to $200 per month,” depending on the duration and intensity of the attacks.

“Records leaked from vDOS indicate that since July 2014, tens of thousands of paying customers spent a total of more than $618,000 at the service using Bitcoin and PayPal,” Krebs reported. He added that the total earnings likely exceeded $1 million, since vDOS began operations in September 2012, but payment records date only from 2014.

Krebs reported that Huri and Bidani refused to order DDoS attacks on Israeli websites, writing: “Responses from the tech support staff show that the proprietors of vDOS are indeed living in Israel and in fact set the service up so that it was unable to attack any websites in that country — presumably so as to not attract unwanted attention to their service from Israeli authorities.”

According to domain registration sites, Huri lives in Hod Hasharon, while Bidani’s Twitter account indicates that his partner is a resident of Tzur Yitzhak, central Israel.

Krebs reported that the two received payment through PayPal and in bitcoins, adding that “the proprietors of the attack service worked assiduously to launder payments for the service through a round-robin chain of PayPal accounts.”

In a statement, the Israel Police confirmed the arrest Thursday — following a request for cooperation from the FBI — of “two major [hacking] suspects, aged 18, from central Israel.” The two were questioned and brought to a detention hearing.

At the request of their lawyer, they were released under strict conditions to house arrest for 10 days, under the constant supervision of one of their sureties. The sureties posted 40,000 shekels ($10,655) in cash for a 30,000-shekel, third-party bond, in addition to the 50,000-shekel promise made by the suspects.

Huri and Bidani are barred from using the internet and any communication methods for 30 days, and must be available for questioning as needed.

In addition, the police statement noted, “Their passports were deposited with the police and they are prohibited from leaving the country or communication with others involved in the case for 30 days.”

The police did not say why the men were arrested and disclosed no details of the investigation.

The Israeli data-security website Digital Whisper (Hebrew only) contains a professional article on DDoS attacks whose authors are given as Itay Huri and Raziel Becker.

The article, which was published within the past several days, explains how to carry out massive DDoS attacks even when the attackers have limited computing resources.

A note at the end of the article adds, “Itay Huri is 18 and about to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces; in his free time, he engages in web development and data security.”

Less information is available on Becker, but in his report Krebs noted, “The data shows that vDOS support emails go to itay@huri[dot]biz, itayhuri8@gmail.com and raziel.b7@gmail.com.”

No responses were received from requests for comment that were sent to the email addresses of the owners of vDOS, as published by Krebs.

The post FBI Tip-off, Israel Arrests Two For $600,000 Cybercrime Operation appeared first on TOTPI.

A defense attorney is expected Monday to challenge scientific evidence a mere speckle of DNA that prosecutors say connects an Orthodox Jewish man to the gang assault of a gay black man.

Mayer Herskovic is facing up to 25 years in prison for the Dec. 1, 2013, attack on Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg.

The victim, Taj Patterson, 25, wasn’t able to identify Herskovic to the judge presiding over the non-jury trial or to police.

Prosecutors say a small amount of “touch DNA” found on the heel of Patterson’s Nike Air Jordan sneaker which was thrown onto the roof of 475 Flushing Ave. links him to the crime. The victim testified on Aug. 31 that the same person who tossed the sneaker shoved a thumb in his right eye.

Patterson underwent three surgeries and is permanently blind in his right eye. Witnesses said at least 20 Orthodox men tied to a Jewish security patrol attacked Patterson as he was walking home to Fort Greene from a friend’s birthday party.

Herskovic, 23, whose trial began on Aug. 29, is the last of five men charged in the gang assault case. Pinchas Braver and Abraham Winkler pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment and were sentenced to perform 150 hours community service in a culturally diverse community. Charges against Aaron Hollender and Joseph Fried were dismissed.

Troy Holder, the prosecutor’s DNA expert, testified on Aug. 30 that a Forensic Statistical Tool was used beyond the manufacturer’s recommendation to identify Herskovic who allegedly touched the back of Patterson’s sneaker.

“The ideal sample amount to use is 500 picograms, but you can use a range under 500 to 100,” said Holder, a city forensic pathologist.

Holder found 97.9 picograms of Herskovic’s DNA on the sneaker which defense attorney Israel Fried challenged on cross examination. A picogram is the equivalent of one trillionth of a gram.

After Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Gough and Tyear Middleton rested their case on Wednesday, Fried alerted Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun that he wanted to call his own DNA expert.

Justice Chun initially denied Fried’s request, but granted it the following day.

“DNA is a crucial aspect that the people (prosecutors) are relying on. Actually crucial is an understatement, it’s extremely critical,” said Justice Chun on Thursday.

The trial was adjourned until Monday in order for the attorneys on both sides to prepare for the DNA expert.

Witnesses Jose Guzman and MTA bus driver Evelyn Keys testified that almost 20 Hasidic Jewish men were kicking, punching and dragging Patterson. Guzman and Keys also saw a shoe being thrown to the roof.

“They had on black suits, white shirts, curls on their face some had hats, some had on navy blue jackets with letters on their backs,” Keys testified on Aug. 30.

A 9/11 caller described the scene as “a bunch of Jewish guys beating up a black guy.”

“Everyone was looking exactly the same. The ones in my view had curly locks on the side of their faces, yarmulke, long black coat,” Guzman testified Wednesday.

The post Lawyers Challenge DNA Found on GAY Black Man Beaten By Orthodox Jews In Williamsburg appeared first on TOTPI.

In another day, the leader of the “Shuva Yisrael” organization, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, will appear before the parole board to request an early release from prison, to which he has been sentenced for one year.

Channel 10 reported last night on the rehabilitation program under whose pretext Rabbi Pinto’s defense team will request his early release.

According to the report, within the framework of the rehabilitation program, the Rabbi would stay in the Jerusalem Hotel far from his disciples, and speak privately with a rabbi in order to cleanse himself of his behavior of recent years. It was also reported that the rabbi is to participate in group therapy for fraud offenders.

Last week it was reported that Israeli police possessed intelligence information about ties between the Rabbi and a key sources from within the crime world.

About a month ago, President Reuven Rivlin said that he did not intend to pardon Rabbi Pinto, who had submitted a request for early release. In so doing, Rivlin adopted the stance of the Department of Justice and rejected the plea of the Rabbi, who was sentenced to a year in prison as part of a plea bargain, after he was convicted of trying to give bribes to Brig. Gen. Efraim Bracha and of obstruction of justice.

The post Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto Gets Rehabilitation Plan Ahead of Possible Release appeared first on TOTPI.

A number of Israeli rabbis, authorized by the Rabbinate to perform weddings recognized by the state, have been conducting fictitious wedding ceremonies between Jews and non-Jews, a new report by Channel 2 has revealed.

Under Israeli law a holdover from the Ottoman rulers prior to the British Mandate – weddings performed in Israel are recognized only through religious authorities – be they Jewish, Muslim, or Christian.

With no civil marriage system, individuals affiliated with different religions are unable to have state-recognized marriages performed in Israel.

A number of rabbis, however, are apparently performing such weddings, marrying Jews to non-Jews – in violation of both Israeli state law and the Jewish religious prohibition on intermarriage.

The ceremonies, conducted for a hefty fee, enable the couples to claim Israeli marriage licenses.

According to a report by Channel 2, the phenomenon is far from rare, with a number of couples revealing that the rabbis willing to perform such ceremonies were well known among non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who made up the bulk of the non-Jews involved in such marriages.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Religious Services responded to the report, saying that the matter “sounds very serious and will be investigated and dealt with”.

Several rabbis admitted to Channel 2 they were involved in such fictitious weddings.

One said he charged 3,000 shekels ($800) for his services, adding that he gave customers their money’s worth.

“I come with a Ketuba [wedding contract] and everything you need and perform [the wedding] according to religious tradition. No one needs to know anything.

The service costs 3,000 shekels. I make a very impressive and interesting wedding service; the guests aren’t bored and certainly don’t feel the difference between this and the real thing.”

The post Orthodox Rabbis Performing Marriages With Non-Jews For Money appeared first on TOTPI.

A Chabad center in Montreal is the latest organization to be linked to the ever-unravelling insider trading case against former Amaya CEO David Baazov and over a dozen alleged accomplices.

The case took on a new twist this week when it was revealed that the Chabad center may have been used as a conduit for money laundering by the group.

According to court documents, in June, Quebec’s financial regulator AMF raided Centre Chabad, seizing financial records and CA$87,000 ($66,000) in cash. The global Chabad movement, which has centers around the world, is run by the Orthodox Jewish Hasidic movement, and focuses on bringing assimilated Jews back into traditional practices.

The AMF says it believes the money, which was found in the car of the center’s director Rabbi Shalom Chriqui, was given to the organization by former Amaya consultant Craig Levett.

Lawyers for Centre Chabad have filed papers seeking return of the funds, arguing that since they were not found on the property for which the warrant had been obtained, their seizure was illegal. It claims the money in question was a combination of voluntary donations and the proceeds of charitable fundraising.

More Than a $100,000 Pyramid

The regulator alleges that Baazov was the head of an organized “pyramid” scheme that shared privileged information on company takeovers, in order to profit through the buying and selling of stock.

Also named are Levett and Baazov’s brother, Josh. All three are accused of receiving kickbacks for information, in the form of cash, checks, and luxury items. The group is believed to have made around $1.5 million in share dealings over a five-year period.

The Centre Chabad revelations came to light this week during a two-day independent hearing, at which none of the accused were present. It also presented an opportunity for Baazov’s lawyer, Sophie Melchers, to cross-examine AMF investigator, Xavier Saint-Pierre.

“Setting the Record Straight”

Melchers was able to get Saint-Pierre to admit that all evidence suggesting Baazov passed on privileged information was purely circumstantial. She also exposed what she called “omissions and flaws” in the AMF’s case, saying its evidence was based on “selective information.”

Saint-Pierre also said that the AMF had been unable to seize Baazov’s cell phone when it raided Amaya’s head office in Montreal in 2014. When investigators returned, they found he had replaced it with a new one.

“Today was the first step in setting the record straight,” said Baazov in a statement via his spokesman, Ian Robertson. “I would like to reiterate that I did not receive any money, gifts or anything for that matter as it relates to the trading by any of these people in any securities. I look forward to being exonerated and putting this behind me.”

The post Montreal Chabad Center Investigated In Money-Laundering Scam appeared first on TOTPI.

Cattle prods, kidnapping and an alleged murder plot.

For the second time in three years, federal prosecutors are uncovering a shady Orthodox underground where men plan violence to force a brutal end to troubled marriages.

Call it the revenge of the chained wives.

In 2013, New York’s tabloids were enthralled with the case of the “Prodfather,” an Orthodox rabbi who led a kidnapping ring that charged hefty fees to use cattle prods on recalcitrant husbands who “chained” their wives by not giving them a religious divorce.

Today, the “Prodfather” is in a federal prison in New Jersey, but a new ring of ultra-Orthodox men stands accused of plotting another violent conspiracy that, if it had been carried out, would have made the “Prodfather” look like a yeshiva boy.

The latest plan, prosecutors say, was to kidnap and murder a Williamsburg, Brooklyn man who the conspirators claimed had refused his wife a divorce for a decade.

Prosecutors working under Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, have filed criminal complaints accusing Shimen Liebowitz, 25, and Rabbi Aharon Goldberg, 55, of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder for hire, according to court filings.

Binyamin Gottlieb, who allegedly introduced the men to a private investigator who they thought would arrange the dirty work, is accused of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The private investigator, whose name has not been released, went straight to the FBI.

He taped subsequent meetings with the conspirators, snippets of which are transcribed in court papers.

“In the back of my mind, it looks like, his parents will be happy when it happens,” court documents say Liebowitz told the private investigator when asked whether the intended victim’s family would worry if he disappeared.

“If he’s f—-ing dead?” the investigator said. “OK.”

Jewish law gives men the exclusive right to end a marriage, so when a vindictive husband chooses to withhold a divorce in an observant Jewish community, his wife has little recourse. Unable to remarry, she is considered an agunah, a chained woman.

Most people seek arbitration and mediation to resolve an agunah crisis. Others, like the “Prodfather,” have gone father.

Gottlieb is known to be involved in resolving communal marriage issues in the Hasidic community, according to a community source who asked not to be named for privacy reasons.

Liebowitz, a young immigrant from Australia, lives in the village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County, New York, and is a member of the insular Satmar Hasidic community that dominates the village. The Satmar are one of many ultra-Orthodox religious communities with unique practices and customs. Goldberg is an Israeli rabbi with expertise in religious divorce issues.

While prosecutors have filed criminal complaints against the three men, they have yet to be indicted. As such, they have not entered pleas.

A lawyer for Liebowitz did not respond to a request for comment from the Forward.

A lawyer for Goldberg declined to comment. Jacob Laufer who, along with Shulamis Peltz, is representing Gottlieb, told the Forward that he does not yet have access to the recording prosecutors say they have of the meeting involving his client.

Laufer noted that the private investigator who cooperated with prosecutors has a criminal record of his own. “In my own experience, a tape recorded conversation needs to be deconstructed and reviewed really carefully,” Laufer said. “There is often a question of who is steering or driving the conversation, which you can learn from the conversation itself.”

Prosecutors won’t say who Goldberg and Liebowitz’s alleged intended victim was, but multiple sources within the Hasidic community said that local rumors peg him as a Satmar man who has been the target of a high-profile pressure campaign that has grown increasingly intensive over the past year.

An attorney for the man’s wife did not respond to requests for comment from the Forward.

The man himself could not be reached.

Since the time of the Talmud, rabbis and religious courts have struggled with how to free Jewish women from husbands who refuse to give them a get, a religious divorce document.

A forced divorce is generally not considered valid, though some exemptions exist, and in extreme situations rabbinical courts are allowed under traditional Jewish law to authorize violence in order to extract a get.

It’s these sorts of rulings, which harken back to a premodern era, that rabbis like the “Prodfather” have relied on to justify their actions.

For the vast majority of Orthodox and non-Orthodox observant Jews in the modern era, of course, violence is not an option. So rabbis have sought alternative solutions. Today, Conservative Judaism tries to get around the agunah problem by inserting a clause in the traditional Jewish marriage contract which forces a divorcing couple to submit to the jurisdiction of a Conservative rabbinical court.

The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance has published materials to help women navigate religious divorces, and has run publicity campaigns to draw attention to the agunah issue.

In 2014, Modern Orthodox rabbis set up a new rabbinical court specializing in cases involving recalcitrant husbands.

Others employ community organizing and public shaming to exert communal pressure when all else fails.

“Each one of these cases is a train wreck,” said Rabbi Jeremy Stern, executive director of the not-for-profit Organization for the Resolution of Agunot. Stern’s group, which is endorsed by rabbis connected to the centrist Orthodox seminary at Yeshiva University, has eight full-time staff members and has resolved 268 cases since it was founded in 2002.

By the time a case makes it to ORA, Stern said, the couple has generally been separated for more than three years. “This is far into the process,” he said.

ORA begins by seeking amicable resolutions through communication and rabbinic courts. When that fails, they go public, organizing protests outside the homes and businesses of recalcitrant husbands, and seeking to have the men excluded from their synagogues and communities.

The organization sees the refusal to give a get as a form of abuse.

“These cases are very difficult to resolve,” Stern said. “We continue with our pressure and our approach, and we try to brainstorm creative approaches.”

Not all in the Orthodox community are willing to be patient, like Stern. Liebowitz and Goldberg are accused of choosing a far more extreme route, and they are apparently not alone.

Rabbi Mendel Epstein, the “Prodfather,” was convicted along with two other rabbis last April of conspiring to kidnap men and force them to release their wives from marriage. Six other men also pleaded guilty in connection to the scheme.

Prosecutors had Epstein on tape boasting that “tough guys” in his employ could force anyone to give his wife a get.

“I guarantee you that if you’re in the van, you’d give a get to your wife,” Epstein told an undercover FBI agent, according to the indictment in the case. “You probably love your wife, but you’d give a get when they finish with you.”

Epstein told the undercover agent that the kidnapping and religious approvals would cost between $60,000 and $70,000. He said that he arranged similar kidnappings every 12 to 18 months.

FBI agents arrested Epstein’s “tough guys” at a New Jersey warehouse in 2013. The men were wearing Halloween masks and carrying 30 feet of nylon rope, a blindfold, vodka and the necessary tools to fill out a get. Epstein was sentenced to 10 years for his role in the scheme. He is currently appealing the conviction.

The conspirators in the latest alleged kidnapping are affiliated with the Satmar Hasidic community; Epstein is a member of the non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodox community in Lakewood, New Jersey. But while they were aware of Epstein’s case, it wasn’t enough to stop them from making their plans.

At their first meeting with the private investigator, they discussed the risk of undertaking a kidnapping in the United States and cited the Epstein prosecution as an example. “Here in America, it’s a very, very big problem,” the private investigator said. “But if there is no other way, we have to do what we have to do, it’s just going to cost more, it simply is. We need to rent a house from someone in a small town…. You see the cage? You see yourself sitting here for two weeks?”

The men allegedly discussed carrying out the kidnapping in Ukraine, where their intended victim travels for Rosh Hashanah, or perhaps hiring a woman to seduce him into traveling to Mexico.

Prosecutors say that when the private investigator asked Goldberg who would pay for the kidnapping, Goldberg said, “The Jewish community.”

“There is money,” Gottlieb said. “There is going to be money.”

As plans progressed, according to prosecutors, conversations among Goldberg, Liebowitz and the private investigator began to turn away from a simple kidnapping and toward a murder, according to allegations in a complaint filed by prosecutors.

By that time, however, the private investigator was cooperating with the government.

FBI agents arrested Leibowitz and Goldberg on September 6. Federal prosecutors announced the arrests September 7. On September 9, Gottlieb purchased a ticket to Ukraine. He was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport on September 11 as he was preparing to board the 10:00 p.m. flight.

He waived his right to stay silent and, according to court documents, admitted that he had attended the July meeting with the private investigator and that he had delivered $25,000 to the investigator on behalf of Leibowitz and Goldberg.

“Our country protects freedom of religious beliefs and practices,” the FBI’s assistant director in charge, William F. Sweeney Jr., said in a statement announcing the first two arrests. “But no one is allowed to plot a kidnapping and murder regardless of their motivation.”

By Josh Nathan-Kazis – Forward

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The State Attorney has pleaded with the court not to shorten Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s jail sentence.

The prosecution has claimed that the Parole Board made a mistake when it decided that Pinto had proven himself worthy of parole.

In their opinion, the severity of Pinto’s crimes, coupled with the confidential information that the police were provided with, creates a situation in which parole would be dangerous.

According to the State Attorney, in this situation, the Parole Committee has not given enough weight to the facts that were put on the table, and has not properly balanced the two sides of the issue.

This creates a situation in which the lack of certainty requires the State Attorney to interfere in the legal proceedings.

Pinto has said that he feels “like a criminal.”

“A number of people left religion because they saw a rabbi who gives bribes. I am no longer a rabbi and I will pay for my mistakes.

I have left public life and I am not a rabbi of any sort until I will feel myself worthy again, and that will definitely not happen in the next year or two,” Pinto said.

Pinto has also declared that he will not continue to serve as a rabbi. He added, “My shame and disgrace are genuine as I went and smashed my entire life.

I ruined everything that was important to me.

I say to the parole board what I told Judge Brown, I stand by my word when I say that I am embarrassed at my behavior.

I expressed my regret from the depths of my heart and sat with the social worker for 50 meetings….There is no rabbi Pinto anymore, I do not exist in the world.

I have expressed my deepest regret and I want to repent.”

The post State Attorney: Don’t Release Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto appeared first on TOTPI.

A Hasidic man was convicted of gang assault on Friday for taking part in a vicious attack on a gay black man in Brooklyn.

Mayer Herskovic, 23, faces up to 15 years behind bars for the brutal Dec. 1, 2013, assault in Williamsburg that left Taj Patterson blind in one eye.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun convicted Herskovic of three charges after the nonjury trial gang assault in the second degree, unlawful imprisonment and menacing.

He found Herskovic not guilty of the top charge, gang assault in the first degree, which carries a maximum of 25 years.

Witnesses said at least 20 Orthodox men tied to a Jewish security patrol attacked Patterson as he was walking home to Fort Greene from a friend’s birthday party.

The men kicked, punched and dragged Patterson, and threw one of his shoes on a nearby roof.

The shoe wound up doing Herskovic in his DNA was found on the heel of Patterson’s Nike Air Jordan sneaker.

Patterson, 25, underwent three surgeries after the attack and is now permanently blind in his right eye.

He told the TOT News shortly after the attack that he was an “easy target” for the gang, some of whom were members of a volunteer safety patrol group.

“I’m walking down some block by myself and then the next thing I know, I’m surrounded by a group of Hasidic Jewish men and they’re attacking me,” Patterson said.

He said the men told him to “stay down” and used an anti-gay slur.

Patterson, who was attending the City College of Technology, said he wasn’t sure why he was attacked.

“I was alone. I was an easy target. I’m black. I’m gay, a whole slew of reasons,” he said.

Herskovic was the last of five men charged in the gang assault case.

Pinchas Braver and Abraham Winkler pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment and were sentenced to perform 150 hours community service in a culturally diverse community.

Charges against Aaron Hollender and Joseph Fried were dismissed.

TOT News has reported that cops at the 90th Precinct station house prematurely closed the case despite having four witnesses to the assault delaying the investigation for 48 crucial hours and leading to problems prosecuting the case.

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said the judge’s verdict is “a testament to our determination to fully prosecute this case based on the evidence, which clearly connected this defendant to the crime.

I hope that this outcome will bring a measure of comfort to Mr. Patterson and his family.”

The post Williamsburg Hasidic Man Convicted Of Gang Assault Beating of GAY Black Man appeared first on TOTPI.

Brazilian police detained an Israeli man in possession of 300 kilograms of cocaine as part of a wave of arrests of gang members suspected of drug dealing.

The 23-year-old Israeli was detained in Sao Paolo, according to local media reports.

Brazilian police said they laid their hands on half a ton of cocaine in total, and that the Israeli was one of a number of suspects worldwide.

Israel Police said that they had been updated with regards to the arrest in Brazil.

“The issue is currently being handled by authorities in Brazil and is being examined under the cooperation framework between the police and law-enforcement authorities in the country and abroad,” Israel Police said.

The police have yet to determine the drugs’ ultimate destination and whether the incident involved a group of Israeli who attempted to take part – through a large investment – in the cocaine delivery.

Police estimate that the 300-kilogram delivery wasn’t meant to reach Israel.

The post Israeli Man Carrying 300 Kilos of Cocaine Detained In Sao Paolo appeared first on TOTPI.

A Brooklyn man found guilty of the brutal gang beat-down of a gay, black student spent a mere 20 minutes behind bars Monday as a judge raised his bail to $50,000.

Mayer Herskovic — who has been out on bond since April 2014 strutted out of the holding cell after a bail bondsman immediately materialized following Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun’s decision to increase bail to $150,000 bond over $50,000 cash.

Herskovic, 24, was convicted Friday on charges of second-degree gang assault following a non-jury trial. He was previously out on $50,000 over $25,000.

The defendant and some 20 Shomrim members an ultra-orthodox Jewish community watch group surrounded Taj Patterson as he walked home from a friend’s birthday in Williamsburg on Dec.1, 2013, according to trial testimony.

One assailant stuck his thumb in Patterson’s eye, leaving him blind, the fashion student testified– adding it was the same man who pulled off his Air Jordan and threw it on a nearby roof.

Herskovic’s DNA, discovered by a controversial forensic procedure called “touch DNA,” was found on the sneaker.

Touch DNA requires only very small samples of DNA– such a skin cells left after someone casually handles an object–to make a comparison, experts testified during the trial.

As he left court with his wife Monday, Herskovic said he had no comment, citing “biased reporting.”

When pressed, the defendant said reporters were unfair because they declined to print that the trial testimony of prosecution witness Evelyn Keyes, a bystander, differed from her grand jury testimony years earlier.

He could recall no other errors.

Herskovic faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced on Nov. 14.

The post Hasidic Jewish Man Guilty of Beating GAY Man Has No Problem Paying Raised Bail appeared first on TOTPI.

Brooklyn, NY – Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the filing of criminal charges against six defendants for participating in long-running schemes to hide substantial assets and income obtained from significant business and real estate interests in order to attain government benefits designed for low-income individuals.

In total, the defendants allegedly obtained more than $1.3 million of government benefits.

Sholomo Kubitshuk, Rachel Kubitshuk, Naftali Englander, and HINDA Englander were charged in one complaint, and Leib Teitelbaum and Devorah Teitelbaum were charged in a separate complaint.

The defendants were arrested in Brooklyn this morning and are scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court later today.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “For over a decade, this ring of six defendants allegedly lied to city and federal officials about their financial status in order to obtain benefits that were meant for the needy.

The alleged schemes that netted them over a million dollars has been put to an end and the defendants now face federal fraud charges.”

Commissioner Mark G. Peters said: “These defendants were millionaires stealing from the poor, as charged.

The defendants fraudulently concealed their wealth to obtain benefits, including Section 8 vouchers intended to help low income New Yorkers find housing, according to the allegations.

At a time when affordable housing is scarce, and there is a waiting list for Section 8 vouchers, it is reprehensible that some New Yorkers went without so that these defendants could have still more.”

According to the allegations contained in the Complaints[1]:

From 2001 to 2016, SHLOMO KUBITSHUK, RACHEL KUBITSHUK, NAFTALI ENGLANDER, and HINDA ENGLANDER conspired and engaged in a scheme to obtain government benefits designed for low-income residents, including Section 8 housing subsidies, Medicaid health insurance, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) food stamps, totaling more than $980,000.

In connection with applications for these benefits, they failed to disclose substantial income and financial assets, including a portfolio of multimillion-dollar residential real estate properties. The defendants also perpetrated the fraud by providing false income affidavits for each other.

From 2007 to 2016, LEIB TEITELBAUM and DEVORAH TEITELBAUM also conspired and engaged in a scheme to obtain government benefits designed for low-income residents, including Section 8 housing subsidies, Medicaid health insurance, and SNAP food stamps, totaling more than $330,000.

In connection with applications for these benefits, they failed to disclose substantial income and financial assets, including a jewelry business and an apartment they owned.

SHLOMO KUBITSHUK, 38, RACHEL KUBITSHUK, 39, both from Brooklyn, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to steal government funds, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and two counts of theft of government funds, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

NAFTALI ENGLANDER, 40, HINDA ENGLANDER, 41, LEIB TEITELBAUM, 39, and DEVORAH TEITELBAUM, 36, all from Brooklyn, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to steal government funds, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and three counts of theft of government funds, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in these cases are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.

The post FBI Arrests Six Satmar Hasidic From Williamsburg Charged In Large-Scale Government Benefits Fraud appeared first on TOTPI.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s appeal against his conviction in the “cash envelopes” affair, in which he accepted cash-filled envelopes from American Jewish businessman Morris Talansky.

Olmert will thus serve another eight months in prison, on top of the 19 months he is serving for his conviction in the Holyland corruption affair.

The court also rejected the state’s appeal against Olmert’s acquittal in the so-called Rishon Tours affair in which he was charged with double-billing organizations for overseas trips.

The court also rejected the state’s appeal against the leniency of Olmert’s sentence for using his influence at the government’s Investment Center to help a crony.

The post Ehud Olmert Corruption Appeal Rejected, Ex-Israeli Prime Minister To Serve Another 8 Months appeared first on TOTPI.