Fourteen Brooklynites, including several prominent rabbis, were charged last week with public corruption and money laundering centered around real estate dealings in New Jersey.
The massive federal bust of 44 people also included New Jersey mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus and two state assemblymembers, along with Brooklynite Levy−Izhak Rosenbaum, who was charged with conspiracy to transport human organs.
Among the Brooklynites arrested and charged with laundering proceeds from criminal activity was Saul Kassin, the chief rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zion, 2030 Ocean Parkway.
Kassin, 87, is one of the clergy elders in the tight−knit and large Sephardic community in southern Brooklyn.
According to court papers, Kassin allegedly laundered more than $200,000 between June 2007 and December 2008 in checks given to charities he controls and exchanging them for clean checks minus a 10 percent fee for each transaction.
The money came from other defendants going through bankruptcy proceedings or to avoid tax payments, officials alleged.
Kassin could not be reached for comment at press time.
Meanwhile, several sources in the Sephardic community called Kassin’s arrest an isolated incident that should not reflect on the entire community.
“The community is shocked and saddened by these allegations which go against every value and teaching the community holds dear,” said David Greenfield, executive vice president of the Sephardic Community Federation.
“If over time these allegations are proven, we must remember that these are the isolated actions of a few individuals, and as such, it would be patently unfair to judge the entire community based on the actions of those few,” he added.
Similar illegal money laundering allegations were lodged against Mordchai Fish, 56, a rabbi at Congregation Sheves Achim in Williamsburg.
Fish, along with his brother, Lavel Schwartz, 57, also a Brooklyn rabbi, allegedly laundered about $585,000 by accepting dirty checks and exchanging them for cash, after taking a fee of 15 percent per transaction, officials said.
Rosenbaum, 58, was charged with conspiring to broker the sale of a human kidney for a transplant, at a cost of $160,000 to the transplant recipient.
Officials alleged that Rosenbaum had been brokering the sale of kidneys for 10 years, with the donors coming from Israel.
Rosenbaum, who is facing five years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 if convicted, could not be reached for comment.
Other Brooklynites charged with money laundering include Schmulik Cohen, 35; Levi Deutsch, 37; Yeshayahu Ehrental, 65; Yolie Gertner, 30; David Goldhirsh, 30; Abe Pollack, 40; Binyomin Spira, 28; Naftoly Weber, 40; Arye Weiss, 40; and Shimon Haber, 34.
The large bust was the result of a long FBI and IRS investigation into high−volume, international money laundering conspiracy, and political corruption involving real estate deals passed through local government in exchange for bribes, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr.
However, the busts also rocked Brooklyn’s large Jewish community.
“The whole thing is a shock to the entire Jewish community,” said Assemblymember Dov Hikind. “Today, FBI agents were out all over −− on 13th Avenue in Borough Park, in Flatbush and in Williamsburg. Everyone wanted to know who got arrested. The entire day was like a guessing game.”
