Borough Park, NY – Spinka Rabbi Pleads Guilty

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    Borough Park, NY – The head of an Orthodox Jewish group has agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge stemming from what prosecutors say was a decade-long tax fraud and money laundering scheme.

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    Naftali Tzi Weisz could face up to five years in prison after signing a plea agreement last week that is contingent on other co-defendants also pleading guilty to various charges.

    An e-mail message left for Weisz’s attorneys was not immediately returned Monday.

    Prosecutors say Weisz and others helped donors avoid paying federal income taxes by having them make contributions to charitable groups run by Spinka, a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group led by Weisz.

    U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek says an agreement with the charitable organizations is almost finished.


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    59 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Kudos for him. There are so many people getting caut and sentence to prison for pocketing for themselves mony. This person worked day and night to support others and didn’t care for himself. I wish for me such a “zchus”

    Help
    Help
    14 years ago

    lets hope he gets house arrest instead

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    In the case of Uncle Sam vs. the Spinka Rebbe, its a total knock-out.

    spinkar chossid
    spinkar chossid
    14 years ago

    as a spinker chossid all i have to say is that hes a real tzaddick he has a full talmod torah yeshiva kollel where he gives hi,self away for others hundreds of parents get away with no schar limud because the rabbi is such a tzaddick lets all daven that the rabbi has a yesho min hasomayim he deserves our tefilos

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Dear fellow Jews this Holy Man is going to the Slammer because he doesn’t want to bo ovar on miserah if he should just talk what the prosicuter wants he would walk a free Man.

    We sould all go out of our way and help that the Spinka School System should be able to stay open and learn with our children the way the Rebbi wanted.

    avremele
    avremele
    14 years ago

    FYI, The Rebbe never pocketed any money for himself. Have you seen how he lives??? Have you seen his shmatte house???

    a veitug
    a veitug
    14 years ago

    Regardless of his sins we are not one to judge for what reason he did it or if it is justified or not all we as yidden need to care is another yid another rebbe has the possibility of heading to prison anytime soon and we need to pray the best for him

    Now to all the self-declared G-D cops: go get a life!!!!

    Kol-Mevaser
    Kol-Mevaser
    14 years ago

    In Zchus of the Lomdei Torah in Spinka Kolel in BP – 1 of the biggest and well know – should he be released, or Atleast judge should “MIT RACHMUNOS” !!.
    But in the meantime we gotta pray and be mispalal for him . V’lshem Hoshiue .

    reality check
    reality check
    14 years ago

    Lets all understand for once and for all THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS. You cant steal and then give it to the poor chasidim. Nothing justifies the Rebbe being involved in this fraud and causing such a huge chillul hashem. What kind of example is he of a “REBBE” or for that matter an erlich yid????

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Your posts are occasionally rational but in this case you are acting like a true am hypocrite and am ha’ortez. Yes. The government is entitled to impose whatever tax level that it may legally enact and yidden are obligated to pay those taxes like any other individuals who are subject to the tax code. No, the ends don’t justify the means under U.S. tax law any more so than they do under halacha. What would you say if I sold cheap treife meat as “glatt” and then used half my ill-gotten profits to sustain some poor yeshiva bochurim at the kollel?

    Emes Vyatziv
    Emes Vyatziv
    14 years ago

    Known to me from first hand, and by reading the plea agreement.

    1. The deal is binding on the judge for not more then 36 mos. not five years the way it is written here.
    2. The Spinka Rebbe was offered all along by the prosecuter, that if he will only wink to the feds who the donors are, he will be off the hook completely. {Because they are after the real Ganuvim who witheld all this money from the Govt. not after the Rebbe with his shleppers who never had to pay any taxes and in the end stayed with only 5% of money and used it for the moisdes, and dont have the ability to pay} So for the sake of all the hundreds of Yiden that with a little wink to the Govt, he could have been spared this whole thing, he instead went with Mesiras Nefesh and pled quilty with a risk of jail time. So Kol Hakuved Loi. Let us all pray that the judge should see who are the crooks and who the righteous are and give him only house arrest.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I’m not a spinka chasid but I heard a lot about him.
    He’s a very erlicher yid and helped yidden all over. He has a huge budget to cover and let the goverment try to prosecute a catholic priest for those sins. Don’t forget every time you give tzedaka and ask for change ure a criminal.

    Now, I’d like to debate the stance of this case. If someone gives tzedaka to a charity and the collector gets 75% of it for commission, is that a crime? It might be a crime for the person who didn’t report the 75% for tax but the cong. Did anything wrong with giving a receipt for the 100%???
    Why is this different?

    once upon a chossid
    once upon a chossid
    14 years ago

    Reb Yochanon Gordon a”h once told the Frierdike Rebbe the following. In Russia the seder was that to sit once was considered a chiyuv. To sit twice was considered a hidur. To sit three times was mechzi keyohora. The Frierdike Rebbe liked that vort very much. (although the Rebbe himself sat 7 times, mechzi keyohora doesn’t apply to tzadikim, as it is written in mesechta brochos).

    Five Towns Resident
    Five Towns Resident
    14 years ago

    Taking ill-gotten gains and distributing it among the poor doesn’t make one a tzaddik, it makes one a money launderer or worse.

    If the Spinka broke the law, he should go to jail. Period.

    Oh, and by the way, did the Spinka Rebbe ever stop to think what kind of CHILUL HASHEM he would cause if he got caught? Especially in the Bernie Madoff era?

    abe
    abe
    14 years ago

    i know the rebbe for over 40 years he is the most giving and selfless person i have ever met i could write a book from all the tovos that he did for people people that never davened in his shul or sent kids to his yeshiva its a fact that the gov prosecutor offfered a very sweet deal if he would talk he would rather sit before he would uther 1word about anyone this roshe R.K. TALKED IT INTO THE GOV THAT THE REBBE IS SOME MAJOR LAUNDERER CHAS VESHULEM and in the end the gov saw that R.K IS A LIAR AND KANIVER I HOPPE THIS ROSHE ROTS IN JAIL BEFORE HIS MESIRA HE HAD A SENTENCE WAITING FOR HIM 130 YEARS MAYBE NOW HE WILL GET INSTEAD 50 YEARS AND ROT BECAUSE CHAZAL SAY WHAT YOU WISH ONTO SOMEONE ELSE YOU GET IN THE END may hashem shine his light and his grace upon the spinka rebbe and his family there is no better
    people than the rebbe and his rebetzin and there wonderful children i think about them and love them like they were my children and love the rebbe like he was my brother we should all be mispalel for NAFTOLI TZVI BEN PERL FOR YESHUA
    AND TOTAL FREEDOM UMEN KEN YEHI ROTZON

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Raboisai ! It would be in all our interests not to leave this topic alone as most of the writers here do not know all the facts, as neither do I. This really can spread chilul Hashem greater than already by the episode itself. None of u are helping klal yisroel by your further discussion of this shameful occurrence in our community.
    What I do know is that when Federal Prosecutors have people (in this case Heimishe people ) as witnesses for the prosecutors and further setting up the Rebbe and his Chassidim, THERE IS NO WAY OUT!!!!! The law was broken regardless of the intent and the FEDS had the goods for their case even if the rebbe did it for his Yeshiva, etc. etc, Torah, etc etc.
    What happened here was that people do not realize the the Federal Govt will work with u if u make a deal immediately acknowledging your crime. This did not happen here and after Millions spent on attorneys (or whatever the sum was) Uncle Sam got the same if not better terms than an immediate plea workout for the benefit of the Rebbe in this situation. The Moiser (regardless of the wrongness of the Rebbes crime!)_himself did this for a plea deal and for that the BAIS DIN SHEL MAALOH will repay him and his children for this crime against the Rebbe.
    It is a separate issue.

    Doniels
    Doniels
    14 years ago

    Hashem’s name is EMES – and any deviation from EMES will eventually backfire.

    And the means do NOT justify the ends with some rare exceptions like Pikuach Nefesh.

    Thanks to some moe frum Yidden for tarnishing our name even further.

    truebeliever
    truebeliever
    14 years ago

    This is reply to ALL- the only truth is that it was done our roll as ovdae hashem is to learn from others and not to pass judgment- the leasson here is vehayesah nekiym (be clean- meanig in this case of suspition) when we approch a cituation like this we need to think what would others think – hatzlacha to all

    avraham david
    avraham david
    14 years ago

    America is just another Mitzrayim at the end of the day we will all be crying to Hashem to save us. Remember , America is a friend of no one . America is a country with so many rules and regulations that they can literraly put any one away. It is not a free country at all. It is a real golus. There are more people behind bars in America than any other country in the world. Let us all pray for Meshiach bimheirah byameinu Amen

    Ehrlicher Yid
    Ehrlicher Yid
    14 years ago

    I think that the less we get into details and into who is right and who is wrong, the less chillul hashem we are creating. as I know for a fact that there are all types of people reading our comments here, V’Hameivin Yuvin.

    But one thing is for sure regarding the Spinka Rebbe. If G-d forbid he will have to end up in jail this would be a Tzuras Rabim Mamash. Because he himself will go in and go out and be mamshich his life as before {hopefully}, but all those innocent people that he is constantly helping out and coaching and mentoring them with monetary and moral support will be nebech left devastetated. His whole day is filled with helping people in Shulim Bais, Money, Medical connections, finding jobs, finding yeshives, children at risk, etc. you name it. besides what he does in his Moisdes, all these people will suffer a lot more then him.

    We need to daven for the sake of Klal Yisroel and for the sake of the chilul hashem, that he should go out of this with the least possible harm for the Klal, and the Moisdes, and the entire Brooklyn community.

    CPA
    CPA
    14 years ago

    to #20 . It is not illegal to get change. It is illegal to take the change as a deduction or to leave the change on the receipt.

    yeracmiel
    yeracmiel
    14 years ago

    kudos to the rebbe and may there be many more like him in klal yisroel who build mosdod kedoshim

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    The government is NOT “them”; it is “us”: “…government of the people, by the people, for the people”. If you don’t recognize that quote, something is SERIOUSLY wrong with your education.

    anonymous
    anonymous
    14 years ago

    The huge “mitzvos” that the Rebbe is alleged to have done with the money are hereby null and void because they fall into the category of mitzvah habaah b’aveirah (the avaeirahs being the tremendous chillul hashem they’ve generated as well as the multitude of individual g’neivos he’s perpetrated with each and every instance of law-breaking and, especially since he’s looked at and holds himself to be a Rebbe, the multitude of “mashgeh iver baderech” aveiros he’s perpetrated by misleading others into thinking it was ok to break the law). Consequently, the Rebbe’s zechusim have been greatly diminished if not totally eradicated so he really needs a ye’shua now. I say let’s recognize him for the human Tzelem Elokim he is and afford him no more and no less respect than any of the other miscreants we have in our families and neighborhood.