DALLAS, TX — A Grand Prairie woman says a man who claimed to be a rabbi bilked her and other members of her church out of money.
Cynthia Silva brought Luis Lujan into her home and game him hundreds of dollars for what she thought was a good cause.
Man Accused of Posing as Rabbi to Scam Churchgoers
DALLAS, TX — A Grand Prairie woman says a man who claimed to be a rabbi bilked her and other members of her church out of money.
Cynthia Silva brought Luis Lujan into her home and game him hundreds of dollars for what she thought was a good cause.
“He’s taking advantage of Hispanics, Christian people and people with good hearts,” Silva said.
Lujan told her his name was Gabriel Rosenburg, claiming he was a rabbi who was trying to bring Jewish families from Russia to Jerusalem.
Silva said she didn’t hesitate to offer help.
“Me and my family want to bring a family from Russia back to Israel. And so I said, ‘I really feel like I need to do this,’” she said.
She and her family gave Lujan $650.
Silva even took him to her father’s church in South Texas so he could solicit more donations. He left with about $3,000, she said.
Lujan told her he would be preaching at another church — but she got a different story from the church.
“They said, ‘We don’t know who this Gabriel Rosenburg is. We don’t know anything about him; he has nothing to do with us,’” Silva said.
Now suspicious about the man who called himself a rabbi, Silva checked out his license plate. She learned that the man she knew as Gabriel Rosenburg was really Luis Lujan.
“It’s always a good idea to contact the police department, because when people are out taking money from people like that… that same person might also be involved in other criminal activities,” said Sgt. Randy Isbell, of the Grand Prairie police department.
Police say if you give money to someone without expecting a service or product in return, it could be considered a civil matter. But if it has happened to several other people, it could be a criminal case.
Several members of the South Texas church Lujan visited filed police reports there.
MJ
I’m reminded of the joke about a priest and a rabbi who are standing on a street corner in Mexico City. People place loads of money in the priest’s collection plate but nothing in the rabbi’s pushka. Finally, someone approaches the rabbi and says, “Don’t you know that this is a Catholic town? When people see you, they probably give extra money to the priest just for spite!” The rabbi turns to the “priest” and says, “Moish! Look who’s telling us how to run our business!”
dovid
rabbis dont go to preach in a church thay go to a shul thay should have known this
Milhouse
Dovid, how should they have known this?
Someone else
It would appear from the article that the fake rabbi was targeting non-Jews. I do not see why they should know that a rabbi would not preach in a church. They would not object to their priests, ministers, etc., preaching in a shul. Don’t assume that because you know something obvious that everyone else does, especially outside of Brooklyn.
ha!
thats why we dont give money to “mishulochim”.