15 Chasidic Jews Arrested in Mortgage Fraud Case

The FBI made 15 arrests in Williamsburg, Kiryas Joel and Monsey Thursday involving an apparent long-term mortgage and welfare fraud case. Most of the arrestees are members of an extended family of Satmar Chasidim.

From The Journal:

An extended family and several business associates were indicted on federal charges Thursday in a rich man, poor man mortgage and welfare fraud scheme that authorities say netted more than $20 million.

Federal agents arrested 13 people in pre-dawn raids in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Kiryas Joel and Monroe in Orange County, and Manhattan. Those charged include a Monsey resident who allegedly provided faulty real estate appraisals as part of the fraud. Two more people indicted are expected to surrender Thursday, authorities said.

“The defendants involved alternately played the parts of prince and pauper depending on which scam was being perpetrated,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said at a news conference in White Plains. “There’s a lot of fraud here and shell games… The fraud was complex and they were fairly organized.”

Click here to continue reading at The Journal.

28 Comments

    • News

      It’s not a secret, it’s news. The banner says , “CrownHeights.info – Your News & Information Center”. I think the agenda is pretty obvious.

    • Anonymous

      Help your fellow yidden learn something from this. When attorney Ben Brafman speaks from decades of experience to crowds of frum Jews about how they will do jail time for false mortgage applications and the like, people listen and soak up his words like he’s a rebbe. But this stuff still goes on. Never mind choshen mishpat, think of your wife and kids! Is that enough of an agenda?

    • CH'er

      why does a news source like CHI always need an agenda, beside for just posting news,,

      this is huge news, it teaches us great values and lessons,

      “im bechukoisey telechu v’im mitzvosay telechu…..”

      there are those that think they will make a fast buck,, but at the end of the day ,,,,, well visa vi the news,,,

  • agenda

    To engender some yiras hashmayim so we all dont follow that path of shtick. Its never kosher.

  • All wrong

    These will likely be the first of many. Dont want to be saying this about our brothers and sisters but too many yidden are doing things like this

  • To #1

    I think it’s important this is posted so people finally learn to stop fooling around.

    Sadly it seems that people in the frum community are raised thinking it’s OK to mess around here and there when it comes to the government etc.

    That needs to stop.

    Frum yid should equal honest person.

  • To #1

    The agenda is to report the news. This is news wether you like it or not. Sad, but still news. If you want only touchy-feely news perhaps check out a different news site. I could think of one or two….

  • commnt

    HaShem yerachem aleinu.
    I think we should hear about it, and learn that we have to be mechazek each other, and help somehow by doing the best we can to encourage others to not get involved in this shtuss. Chilul hashem, and what does it teach their children, and their relatives, and on and on. Just do mitzvos, help each other, respect each other even when not deserved. Clean it up with ahavas yisroel and other mitzvos.

  • Mendy Hecht

    I would say the point of posting these stories is: Don’t do things like this–you will get caught and you will embarrass the community. How about that?

  • Disgusting

    When will our people learn you can’t get away with this today of computers and cell phone bugs and other high tech devices.
    You know why they won’t learn? Because they are technology ignorant and morally impaired and it’s not their fault. Yeshivas teach them nothing. Almost everyone in Williamsburg and Kiryas Joel is illiterate and no nothing of the outside world.
    This will go on as long as yeshivas cling to their 10th century curriculum. It’s a shame these misfits have to reflect on the honest and hard working yids.

    • It's not their yeshivahs' fault!

      I’m sure their yeshivahs taught them the aseres hadibros, and lots more about how it’s against Torah to lie, cheat, and steal.

      So stop complaining about the yeshivah system, “Disgusting”!

  • why dont they go after murderers!

    watch them put these
    people [maybe innocent] in jail and leave murderers walking the street!

  • moishe613

    what is YOUR agenda, #1? …

    f) food stamp fraud
    r) real estate fraud
    u) unemployment insurance fraud
    m) mortgage and money market fraud

    we all know about your agenda …..

  • ARE YOU ALL BLIND

    This is a wake up call, the majority of Crown Heights is on some form of government benefit program and on the flipside either making more than they report or doing it “off the books.”

    Eventually they will catch on and start weeding out people, especially with the new obamacare linking your taxes to your health insurance and they have the ability to see all the shananigans.

    Btw all the venom in the comments is inappropriate, you think we are the only ones doing this, our African American friends are either doing the same or just reaping the benefits and not working, The illegals and legal Latinos are using as much of the benefits as they can get.

    Lets just hope if the government starts cracking down it should be fair and not just focused on us

  • Mishagas stupidity

    the title says it all no matter who does it its wrong It is worse when it comes from within your own community & to me also proves a wider conspiracy which has housing prices especially in Crown heights now thru the roof maybe that should be looked into as well I still can’t figure out how a hole in the wall in or a property with a house that has to be demolished is worth 3/4 Million dollars etc. Just to live in a frum community. A bigger questions that needs to be asked is why are you taking this & accepting it & why not move out & strengthen or start another community where the prices are lower I can think of several here in NYC area alone Even CH started small & built up as did many other thriving communities & today it is easier then ever. As for the US attorney he should have been the nominee for Attorney general As he is the one that is really doing the job he was appointed to

  • STOP PROTECTING CRIMINALS

    That is and should be the only agenda. ובערת הרע מקרבך These criminals (if convicted) only sully the name of Jews and the Al-Mighty all over the world. Expose them and get them out of your communities. Stop accepting their ill gotten monies as charity. Stop honoring them at your dinners.

  • #14 Disgusting

    disgusting is your comment, very easy to point fingers especially when its not in your “schuna”, take a walk down many of the streets in your neighborhood and find out how many of the people in your “schuna” do the same thing, wait until they get arrested and see where you stand???? as for the illiterate comment, the boys in some of our yeshivas do the same thing, no English just like in Williamsburg….so before you start mocking others look closely to those around you and see what will your response will be when 20 of your close neighbors get arrested for the same things.
    so you may want to rethink the next time you post a bogus comment based on your illiterate knowledge of a community that have many upstanding educated citizens who are unfortunately clouded by the behaviors of the negative ones.

  • Gas Station

    Better to work hours per hours in a gas station then get involved with dirty big money. sheesh

  • u r all wrong

    we don’t know the whole story and what is true and what is not. that is why this should not be posted yet! all i see is that families got benfits and took out mortgages. we don’t know how long this took place. can it be that they needed benfits bec. they couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments.jj?? soes it say they fell back on their loans or that they did this purposefully? we don’t know anything wo why post

  • DON"T FORGET CHOSEN!

    We are G-d’s chosen people, aren’t we? So, if we go down to the morality of the lower beings ( be it “white collar” or, rarely among us, “violent crimes”), this makes us look pretty bad.
    Ben Brafman said, “if you follow the Jewish law, you will, most likely be following the American law, and, therefore, stay out of trouble.”