Dec 19, 2007 12:22 pm US/Pacific
Rabbi Indicted For Tax Fraud, Money Laundering
Weisz Allegedly Secretly Refunded Charitable Donations
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Weisz allegely laundered millions of dollars from phony charitable donors.
CBS
The head of an Orthodox Jewish group has been indicted in what authorities say is a sophisticated tax fraud and money laundering scheme. The money was being laundered through an Israeli bank, and several businesses in the jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles.
According to Federal persecutors, Rabbi Naftali Tzi Weisz, 59, and several associates, including Gabbai Moshe E. Zigelman, 60, were arrested in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning.
Weisz is the Grand Rabbi of Spinka, an Orthodox Jewish sect.
Authorities say he helped solicit millions of dollars in contributions to Spinka charitable groups by promising to secretly refund up to 95 percent of the donations. This allowed his contributors to falsely claim higher tax deductions.
The charitable organizations are based in Brooklyn, New York, where Weisz is from.
He was expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon. Weisz and Zigelman face charges including conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, 19 counts of mail fraud, 11 counts of international money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and operating an illegal money remitting business.
Other associates face various other charges and one, attorney Jacob Ivan Kantor, 71, is still at large in Israel.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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