Queens, NY – A New York rabbi and three others were indicted for stealing over $12.4 million in public aid for disabled pre-schoolers and using it to spruce up their homes, get catering discounts and fund a relative’s cosmetics business, authorities said on Tuesday.
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The four men, who had ties to one of the city’s largest providers of special education services for disabled pre-schoolers, were due in court on Tuesday on criminal charges in a 42-count indictment, including grand larceny, identity theft, and falsifying business records, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
If convicted, each faces up to 25 years in prison.
They are accused of stealing money meant to benefit the Island Child Development Center in Queens, a non-profit special education provider for Orthodox Jewish children aged 3 to 5, located at 1854 Cornaga Avenue, in Far Rockaway, Queens, which primarily provides services to pre-school children in the Orthodox Jewish communities of Far Rockaway in Queens and Williamsburg and Borough Park.
“It is disheartening to see a betrayal of the magnitude alleged in this indictment,” Brown said in a statement.
Rabbi Samuel Hiller, who is the center’s assistant director, and Roy Hoffman, the center’s independent auditor, were accused of using the money to fix up their homes. Hoffman spent $300,000 for a house redesign and diverted $15,000 to his wife’s make-up business. Hiller spent $30,000 on home plumbing work, the prosecutor said.
Hiller also was accused of diverting $8 million to various unrelated religious schools and camps, including $3 million to B’nos Bais Yaakov Academy, a private all-girls school where he is principal.
The New York State Comptroller’s Office said they uncovered the fraud when the center’s former executive director, Ira Kurman, ran off with his books and records just before a scheduled routine audit meeting in the summer of 2012.
In the indictment, Kurman was accused of making more than $143,000 in loans to community members, including a caterer in exchange for discounts for his daughter’s wedding and his son’s Bar Mitzvah.
A fourth man, Daniel Laniado, described as an investor in the center, was accused of using check cashing locations to liquidate more than $1 million of checks meant to benefit the center.
The center received roughly $27 million in state funding between 2005 and 2012.
In addition to the criminal charges, the District Attorney’s Office sought forfeiture of over $11 million, of which $1 million has already been repaid.
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The headlines are BS, read the article. I have no idea whatsoever who these people are but they obviously didnt steal any money at all. They acted as an umbrella organization giving millions to mosdos. The charge of $30k for plumbing and even the $300,000k is at most taking income without declaring it as income, not praiseworthy in the least but hardly stealing millions. They didnt run this org by the book but certainly never stole any money.
oy vey iz mir everyday we hear a new indicment of rabbis terrible,it looks like the love of money is the root of all evil.
Guys, you really all need to understand. The authorities are not stupid, neither are DAs, not judges, nor juries.
If you pull shtick, you will to to jail. Trying to justify or rationalize your actions is futile.
No one is stupid.
A horrific tragedy for all providers of special education …. As someone who Rabbi Hiller came to for advice on starting this program , I feel a sense of guilt and saddnes on the mess he created for so many honest providers who now suffer from audits and scrutiny. honest providers like yeled veyala.and step by step will now suffer
How low do you go to steal public money allocated for DISABLED CHILDREN in NYS. You can bet that some goyishe communities with disabled children had their funds diverted to these crooks because they had political connections. But look, their beards are long enough to be esteemed members of their communities. And some mock lack of morality of atheists. Time again we see through these cases that facade of prayers and kashroot does not produce moral men.
When Donald Sterling went on a rant about how Jews have interest free loans to help community members but Blacks don’t help each-other like that, he maybe forgot to mention that this type of money they give out is thanks to goyishe tax payer that keeps these communities of hollies afloat through elaborate, daring, fraudulent schemes.
Good news! Another example of economic recovery. Your money going into the economy.
Will it ever end? Any arrest of a frum Yid is a tremendous chillul Hashem and chillul Hashem is a serious avairah. Even if the stolen money was used for good purposes, the law was broken. America isn’t Sherwood forrest and they guys aren’t Robin Hood.
I don’t see the story of Zuckenberg giving 100 MILLION $$$ to Newark’s Mayor Booker for EDUCATION being diverted to “other” accounts. WHY NOT INDICT THEM ALSO.?????????
As the parent of a special child please allow me to comment.
It is a mitzvah to give money, donate your money to Jewish mosdos. The key word would be YOUR MONEY. I do not believe you are a Tzadik by rerouting Government money meant for another cause. This includes yeshivah and chinuch atzmi.
Every step of the way we face limitations in what can be provided to our special child based on budget issues. More would be done with more money. MORE WOULD BE DONE WITH LESS GENEVAH.
it is interesting to note that Olmert might get up to 6 years for his corruption scandal; but these fellows might get up to 25 years.
Moral: if you are going to be a criminal, it is better to get caught in Israel. Maybe you don’t get so much money but if and when you get caught you don’t spend so much time in jail…
What a chilul HaShem! I want to vomit. Stealing taxpayer money to invest in biz and spruce up your house? Worse, one guy (1) says it was not really that bad and another quotes Gemara. I am sure the DA of Queens read that before sending in the cops.
Shame on us all.
…ok, ok, so much for being don lekaf zechus…ive seen hysterical indictments all the time only to be disproved later. Its sad that most of you arent even American enough to presume innocent until proven guilty let alone jewish enough to be don lekaf zchus. I myself am sickened by any smell of ginayva, but read the big book of jewish rules or the rule of law in america and stop ur big headed, condescending accusation, especially u # 12. I refuse to be unamerican and non jewish like you! Now for the facts, of course taking government funds and diverting them is a crime, but the headline screams as if they stole the funds for themselves, which does not seem to be the case. The comment was about the headline, not the “allegations” which are just that allegations. Diverting govt money is a crime but as heinous as pocketing money for ones own use. Now if they are found guilty about pocketing money for themselves then that would be the worst and saddest case. But again, we as americans and jews dont judge off indictments, please go back to Saudi Arabia where your obviously from!!
The stories lately of people redirecting (I don’t know all the facts, but it large amounts of money was certainly misused) funds from organizations are a terrible chilul Hashem.
The problem starts with a percentage of people in our communities living beyond their means. I do not mean the people barely covering basic expenses. I mean those who live luxuriously (i.e. balabatishly) without being able to afford that lifestyle.
Parents unfortunately ingrane such a hollow lifestyle and it’s all covered by credit cards whose monthly payments they can barely make. On top of it all is the chutzpah and expectation that people themselves inculculate in their kids that parents support their married kids and their growing families for years!
This is NOT the Torah way. In the kesubah it is written that a husband should support his wife. Unless parents REALLY have the means and willingness to support a learning lifestyle, the husband should step up to the plate and do his duties.
But even those people where the husband work and the wife as well, people have this attitude where they expect to get what they want even if it above their means.
The bottom line is that the lifestyle of those who aquire every materialistic whim they desire is a life devoid of meaning even if they are “frum”. It is a lifestyle that is economically, emotionally and mentally non sustainable.
This is what should be taught in schools; all the exesive knowledge taught to girls will get them nowhere if we don’t teach the basics. This should be taught in yeshivas, not feeding elite assumptions of sucking the lifeblood out of your parents/in-laws. And it starts with the parents themselves. I’m shocked at the empty balabatish image a lot in our community try to convey and I bet a big majority of these people don’t have the means to cover it.
A simple lifestyle will help that these kind of stories, where people are redirecting large amounts of money ( whether to themselves or different organizations), wouldn’t keep on happening every other day.
We Jews get enough negative attention in the press with fake, blown up stories about us. We don’t need to stoke the fire with these terrible stories that are unfortunately true.
I can’t believe that not one of the comments quoted here was written in the true spirit of a true yid. Even goyim quote “innnocent until proven guilty”. Did it occur to ANYONE that Rabbi Hiller, a noted community chashuv who has done so much for the community, is innocent? Did it occur to anyone that the laws of shmiras halashon dictate you are not even allowed to be mekabel what you heard/read?
In response to “the real problem is that we do not hear screaming and condemnation from the leaders of the community when this things happen.”, we should all be proud of our leaders for not succumbing to the taivah of the horrible lynching seen above.
When he is proven innocent IYh, you will be the ones to be ASHAMED. Until then, I suggest we all watch over our own zechusim.
If these accusations turn out to be true, the failing will be in thinking it is permissible to steal, since it supports Torah values, which are a good cause.
In fact, dishonesty and cruelty to others (by depleting needed funds for other children in other communities) go against every Torah value. We have totally forgotten what Torah values are, and convinced ourselves that robotic performance of rituals is what Judaism is all about. The mitzvos are for one reason only, to discipline ourselves so that we have proper sensitivity to others.
For shame with this whole way of thinking. For shame with not teaching our kids technological skills at the highest levels, because it is bitul Torah. For shame that we think our kids can just learn, and then will figure out a way to finagle deals and make a living as an afterthought. We have brought disgrace upon ourselves by thumbing our noses at the values our parents had, which were to take secular studies seriously and excel, just as they took yiddishkeit seriously. Now limudei chol are being taught by rebbeim who barely know the subject, and couldn’t care less about it. The kids are never inspired to learn about the world and develop skills and curiosity in their youth which will stand them in good stead their whole life. This dysfunctional way of living must end now.
#41
I am with you 100%
If someone made a donation to their organization on condition to help many different people – would it be called “diverting $8 million to various unrelated religious schools and camps, including $3 million to B’nos Bais Yaakov Academy, a private all-girls school where he is principal”?
No matter what happens, our “leaders” will always blame it on the internet.
The bottom line of this whole thing is ANOTHER FRUM PERSON has gotten caught with his hand in the till – “STEALING” under the umbrella of a religious institution.
Yesterday a report came out that 1 out of every 4 people in the world are anti semitic – signs in the street say the “JEWS HAVE ALL THE MONEY” –
Ribono Shel Olam – when are we going to stop being our worst enemy –
That is the real story of this issue!