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.
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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.
No wonder they are voting for Trump. He said it yesterday in front of 100 million Americans. Not paying taxes is smart business. Did Trump grow up in Brooklyn?
It can’t be true!
Had they received a proper education they probably would know that it’s illegal to do illegal stuff for which you can go to jail and they might even have been able to get real jobs. #2 Nothing wrong with legally minimizing your taxes.
The rebel rousers on VIN are crawling out of their woodwork with their nasty comments. Plus, we will probably hear from this Moster looser how this is all a result of lack of education.
Keep it up nasty Chevra with your nasty comments before Rosh Hashana!
When was the last time the u.s attorney announced
An arrest via press conference or press release of a person accused of fraud on $300,000 ?
Looks like they hate the hasidic jews as much as the posters of VIN!!!
Chasidim from Willamsburg stealing from section 8, Medicaid, food stamps…..I’m “shocked”!!!!!
I wonder if all these nasty comments are really by Jews.
and why is VIN posting these names?
They are innocent until proven guilty! That being said, however, we need to be scrupulous in following the laws of the nation, So that we can be a light unto the nations!
There seems to be a perception that it is mutal to steal from the government. I have never found a posek who suggested that this is so. My heart goes out to the people involved in the trials and tribulations they are facing, as no doubt they Yozteh sechorah b’hefsaydah
Section 8 & Government assistance, boy these sound like typical Hillary supporters if you ask me.
Very nice, another Hilel Hashem….
Lets make it crystal clear: Nobody is defending or encouraging unlawful activities.
Having said,the prison system is full of white collar crimes by highly educated intellectual people. Point,things mentioned in this article have ZERO to do with lack of education.
#14,excellent comment and so true!
T’sheva needed.
Tax evasion is against the law and one can go to jail. Tax avoidance is what the tax laws are created for. It is the obligation of your accountant to help you avoid taxes. If he helps you evade taxes, he can join you in jail. Trump was talking about tax avoidance.
I hate when people say they are not stealing because it’s from goyim. Don’t ever forget who pays the government, so they are in fact stealing from each and every individual here.
I think it is dumb to now put them in jail because it will cost the US taxpayers again several hundred thousand dollars per year to allow these people to live the luxurious jail life. Government should take the owned houses and money from individuals like these, put in a fund and distribute the earnings back to the taxpayers. The same should be done with all the corporate fines levied on big businesses, the taxpayers should get back the money, period!!!!
There is no question that [even if true] the heimishe are being targeted by the Obama feds. This is called misappropriation of justice. There are other neighborhoods of a different race that do these things 100 times over and have no problems at all with the law.
what is the connnection between these 3 families or is it 3 random families doing the same shtick
RambaM (Hilchos Geneiva 1:1-2)
כָּל הַגּוֹנֵב מָמוֹן מִשּׁוֹוֶה פְּרוּטָה וָמַעְלָה–עוֹבֵר עַל לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר “לֹא, תִּגְנֹבוּ” (ויקרא יט,יא). וְאֵין לוֹקִין עַל לָאו זֶה, שֶׁהֲרֵי נִתָּן לְתַשְׁלוּמִין, שֶׁהַגַּנָּב, חִיְּבָה אוֹתוֹ תּוֹרָה לְשַׁלַּם. וְאֶחָד הַגּוֹנֵב מְמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל, אוֹ הַגּוֹנֵב מְמוֹן גּוֹי עוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה; וְאֶחָד הַגּוֹנֵב אֶת הַגָּדוֹל, אוֹ אֶת הַקָּטָן.
Hilchos Gezeila 1:1
כָּל הַגּוֹזֵל אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ שׁוֹוֶה פְּרוּטָה–עוֹבֵר בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר “לֹא תִגְזֹל” (ויקרא יט,יג). וְאֵין לוֹקִין עַל לָאו זֶה, שֶׁהֲרֵי הַכָּתוּב נִתְּקוֹ לַעֲשֵׂה: שְׁאִם גָּזַל, חַיָּב לְהַחְזִיר–שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר “וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת-הַגְּזֵלָה אֲשֶׁר גָּזָל” (ויקרא ה,כג), זוֹ מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה. וְאַפִלּוּ שָׂרַף הַגְּזֵלָה–אֵינוּ לוֹקֶה, שֶׁהֲרֵי הוּא חַיָּב לְשַׁלַּם דָּמֶיהָ, וְכָל לָאו שֶׁנִּתָּן לְתַשְׁלוּמִין, אֵין לוֹקִין עָלָיו. [ב] וְאָסוּר לִגְזֹל כָּל שְׁהוּא, דִּין תּוֹרָה. אַפִלּוּ גּוֹי עוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, אָסוּר לְגָזְלוֹ אוֹ לְעָשְׁקוֹ; וְאִם גְּזָלוֹ אוֹ עֲשָׁקוֹ, יַחְזִיר.
It seems as if the comments on this article were written by extremely naive people that don’t know not to feed the anti-semites that troll these pages.
* other people do it and don’t get caught.
* other ethnic groups do it and don’t get arrested.
* ridiculous non-connections to the behavior of presidential candidates.
* insults to drug addicts.
* a vague anit-Israel reference.
These people were caught doing something which is a chilu H’ , an insult to all hard working Americans, and just plain wrong.
Maybe they will be found innocent. Maybe Mr. Bahra is wrong, but he has a strong prosecution record.
But what’s really wrong is that members of the kehilla see this as anything other than a call for emes tshuva shleima. A lot of Americans know somebody doing these crimes. Those people should be seen as what they are liars and cheats. Middah kenegid middah, it begins cheating on the government and eventually your whole life is a lie.
We Jews have the Torah, we should know better.
We also have a yerzer horah. We need to fight it, and we need to help each other fight it.
No excuses.
Tshuva sheleima b’emes.
L’ shanna Tovah.
Thank you to #47 , just to keep in mind, we are committed to Torah observance.
A git gebenched yoor to all of you.
Obamacare changed the eligibility guidelines for medicaid to be equal across all the states. The guidlelines are based on Modified adjusted gross income as defined by the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore a real estate billionaire that has enough depreciation deductions to bring his MAGI income down low enough will not only pay no taxes, he will also be 100% legally entitled to medicaid.
This is thanks to the real estate lobby who has the politicians in their pockets.
Your all talking about TRUMP. Whats his play in this benefit Freud. It all boils down to Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed What a Chilel Hashem.
UN