Brooklyn, NY – The New York State Attorney General’s office has file suit in Kings County Supreme Court against Brooklyn resident Rabbi Yaakov Weingarten, his wife Rivka, and his two top employees David Yifat and Simon Weiss charging that all are complicit in stealing “hundreds of thousands-if not millions” of dollars in donations targeted for Israeli charities.
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A story that was originally reported by VIN (http://bit.ly/1509wpD) on June 25th, the suit follows a prolonged, laborious effort by the AG’s office to extract cooperation from Weingarten with regard to his running of some twenty charities and his fundraising practices
VIN has obtained a copy of the lawsuit that was filed in Kings County Supreme Court of June 26, 2013.
According to court documents, none of Weingarten’s charities have filed required IRS reports since 2007, and bank statements from many of the charities, obtained by the AG, show that Weingarten and his associates have constantly used accounts in charity names as their own personal bank accounts.
Since 2007, Weingarten and Weiss have used 35 different charity bank accounts to withdraw over $350,000 in checks written to “cash,” and have withdrawn Millions the complaint says.
Bank statements also reveal that charity bank accounts have been used to pay Weingarten’s home mortgages, car loans, and utilities, as well as remodeling a second home Weingarten purchased in 2009.
On May 14th, 2013, Weingarten was summoned to appear before the Office of the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau (“OAG”) to give sworn testimony in response to the charges against him.
Weingarten refused to answer a single question during the session, while invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 600 times.
Court documents also state that Weingarten has routinely engaged in the practice of intentionally confusing potential donors by choosing names for his fake charities that closely resemble more established entities to which he has no affiliation.
The suit cites examples of Weingarten entities bearing the names Hatzalah Rescue and Hatzalah Shomrom, which have that name in common with unrelated Hatzalah entities that operate EMS vehicles in New York and Israel.
Another one of Weingarten’s fake charities, Zaka Israel, bears a close resemblance to Israel-based Zaka entities that dedicate themselves to assisting terrorism victims and gathering the remains of victims killed by terrorist attacks in Israel and elsewhere.
The suit charges that Weingarten also used the name Magen Israel, which closely resembles Magen David, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.
The suit states, “The Defendants employ the similar sounding names to confuse donors in believing that they are contributing to a well-established charity or cause.”
Over the duration of his scheme, Wiengraten has claimed that he has had the support of Rabbis, even posting YouTube clips, as photo-ops, showing him getting blessings from Israeli Rabbis without even mentioning his organizations.
The following is a full list of names and last known addresses of the Defendants listed in the suit:
1. Yaakov Weingarten, last known address 1124 East 23rd Street, Brooklyn, NY
2. Rivka Weingarten, last known address 1124 East 23rd Street, Brooklyn, NY
3. David Yifat, Brooklyn, NY
4. Simon Weiss, last known address 5409 Almeda Avenue, Apt. 3C, Queens, NY
5. Hatzalah Rescue, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
6. Shearim, 5014 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
7. Bnei Torah, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
8. Chesed L’Yisrael, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
9. Yad L’Shabbat, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
10. Hatzalah Shomrom, 5014 16th Avenue, Suite 355, Brooklyn, NY
11. Pulse, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
12. Agudath, 5014 16th Avenue, Suite 152, Brooklyn, NY
13. Reb Meir, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
14. Congregation Yad L’Shabbat, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
15. Shearim Hayad, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
16. Emergency Center, 1491 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
17 Magen Israel, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
18. Hayad, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
19. Lmaan Hatorah, 5014 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
20. Our Children, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
21. Zaka Israel, 5014 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
22. Yaldei Simcha Yisrael, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
23. Yad Israel, 1493 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Not cool.
Very nice! Of course, any cynicism on my part must be misplaced, merely the product of social tolerance and Liberalism…I will try to see the emes, that this report is simply another dose of Obama-inspired anti-frum propaganda…just like those lies about covering up sex abuse among erliche Yidden.
I wonder many times what these peopel think after 120 years. It’s never a free ride! What a shame to the yiddishe community.
Dun l’kuff z’chus, I hope all these allegations aren’t true.
But I’m not sending any monies from mailing requests unless I know the charities or the people running them!
Who can you trust these days?
Very disappointing news
Innocent until “proven” guilty.
…and here I was, wondering what the shande of the day was going to be.
Oh please, let’s not pretend there is any room left to be dan l’kaf zechus here. Being dan l’kaf zechus doesn’t mean burying your head in the sand in living in denial. As someone who has been harassed with literally hundreds – if not thousands – of unsolicited phone calls (all from “dupe” numbers) from a call center that sounds like it’s being manned by idiots (literally), I will be the first to say that all those involved in this horrible scam should be locked away for life. They have stolen not merely from unwitting donors, but more critically, from the legitimate poor people and charities that are in dire need of these funds.
Does this mean that my phone will no longer ring non stop every evening. How sad that charities are used in such a dishonest way
To Numbers 3 and 5: Its getting harder and harder to be dan l’kaf zechus anymore. Every week we hear of another ganev or molestor and frankly, it’s embarassing already.
Very sad that we can no longer trust tzedaka organizations anymore. From here on in, phone calls from any organization will go unanswered in my home. I’d rather support Chai Lifeline, Zaka, Hatzala, etc than these crooks.
The Woodmere real estate man’s plea and this allegation all in one day. Why do our people get involved in such g’naivah?
5014 16th Avenue is a post office box business with postal and stationery supplies. I can see the wisdom of banning the internet, now. People sharp enough to Google an address are sharp enough not to fall for deceptive practices.
Thank god they got to his crook there are plenty more that need to be out rooted. Grabbing hard earned money form innocent victims in order to fill your pockets should be punished hard!
the way he names these fake organizations gives you a clue what he is all about
Also, I would recommend that any charity organization that the main address is a POB, should be investigated!
I know that one of his organizations are legit. I can’t speak for the other. But i can say this. Every schnorer from EY needs to pigy bank on some mosod so that donaters can receive a tax deduction. They are just individuals how do they form a mosod. Many of them go thru these middle men who create mosdos for them. I believe its legal though i am not a lawyer. I would assume the founders of these mosdos take a cut. It wouldn’t suprise me if someone has a business providing organizations for various needs. Hence forth multiple organizations.
If proven guilty, he should rot in jail.
This is a direct result of not giving our kids an education.
This is why 85% of our parnassah’s are from moving money around from account to account – and yes, I am including honest people who work in the non-productive professions of mortgage brokering, stock trading, and all kinds of paper pushing.
Why can’t our Yeshivas prepare the next dentists, doctors, engineers, computer scientists, biologists, pilots, etc etc etc??????
If we want to be in Yeshiva all day, that is a noble mission – but then we can’t expect to live the lifestyle must of us do. We need to pick a side!
The gemoreh tells us already i think its Rav Yoseph that we need to thank the thiefs because if not them we would be liable for each poor man that is knocking on our door and we don’t give them the proper amount, if not this thiefs every flyer we recieve in the mail and we don’t open it just we have it straight from the mailbox into the garbage even if some of them are real organization but since some of the are real phonies like all the above this is what we will answer when we will stand trial for not giving for real charities, so all the years people use to portend that they are needy or helping the needy and pocketing the money.
This is very interesting. I had been suspicious of some of these orgs. They had used robo calls, different numbers, 914, 516, 718, their stationery looked similar,
and some of their people calling were not too pleasant. I am glad this will end.
Cut this mans beard off now and swipe his wife’s sheitel.
They are not frum
Time for an ashifha against fraud. This is a direct result of looking the other way of small fraud. Like food stamps section 8 and who knows how many more. Why not be halve as strict when it come to genava as many are regarding internet, what glasses one wears and stuff like that
At least he wasn’t caught drinking cholov hacompanies, wearing a kipa seruga, saying a mishabarach for the chayalim, ending shabbos at shkiah plus fifty minutes, going to a Lips concert, studying Rabbi Slifkin’s science books, davening in a Young Israel, learning in the YU Bais Midrash or attending the Salute to Israel parade. Those avairos would chas veshalom keep his kids from finding ‘good’ shidduchim.
Stealing 40 million dollars (if true) shouldn’t cause any shudduch problems for his kids, unless the AG can find all of it, making him guilty of one of the worst, if not THE worst, avairah, THOUGH SHALL NOT BE BROKE IN THE HEILIGER FLATBUSH KEHILLAH.
He’s a real ganev and the lowest of the low. I he’s worse than a robber who breaks into someone’s house. He stole intentionally from many many people under pretense.
Form the Court House News Service:
“Weingarten and Weiss have withdrawn more than $42 million from accounts since 2007, written at least $350,000 in checks to “cash,” and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars directly from charity accounts to pay Weingarten’s home mortgages, car loans, utilities and the costs of remodeling the Weingarten’s second home, purchased in 2009, according to the complaint. They also made “large and irregular payments to themselves,” including $120,000 paid to Weiss and Weingarten on a single day, according to the state.”
Our community obviously has a problem. I remember 40 years ago when an Orthodox Jew was considered an honest man by Jews and gentiles alike. Those days seem like a dream now.
Can we get one “gadol”, just one, any one, to speak out against such things? Answer; A resounding NO!!! Why, because these thieves donate lots of money to these “gedolim”.
How many shuls and yeshivos are built on stolen money? We are our own worst enemy.
This is just so sleazy. The Chillul Ha Shem that comes with something like this is immeasurable.