Surprise! Agriporcessor Executive Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Agriprocessor is a company that has had more bad press than any I can think of in a long time. This company has been brought up on charges from every angle! It started with allegations of animal cruelty then certification issues and labor violations then eventually bankruptcy. One would think with Agriprocessors recent sale this would be the end of the saga but there's more! A former executive of Agriprocessor:Yomtov “Toby” Bensasson, 56, has plead guilty to fraud. He admitted that he conspired from September 2007 to October 2008 to lie to a bank to receive advances on a loan. Bensasson told authorities that he “overstated the value of collateral as part of his employer’s request for an advance on a loan,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.
With all the recent bad press Jews have been getting in the business world this only adds fuel to the fire.

Spinka Rebbe Indicted for Tax Fraud!

As if we don't have enough stereotypes the Grand Spinka Rabbi: Naftali Tzvi Weisz, 59, faced some serious today in LA federal court. Among them are, conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering, according to a 37-count indictment returned Tuesday.

Authorities say Weisz helped solicit millions of dollars in contributions to five Spinka charitable groups by promising to secretly refund up to 95 percent of the donations. That way, the contributors could falsely claim higher tax deductions,

In some cases, donors received cash payments through an underground money transfer network involving business owners in Los Angeles' jewelry district, prosecutors said. Contributors also were reimbursed through wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities into accounts secretly held at a bank in Israel, prosecutors said.

Weisz is from Brooklyn, N.Y., where the charitable organizations are based.

Also indicted were his executive assistant, Moshe E. Zigelman, 60. Six of the seven charged in the case were taken into custody as federal agents conducted searches in Los Angeles and New York on Wednesday morning.

It was unclear whether the defendants had retained attorneys yet.

I hope this is all some kind of mistake but with an indictment that long what are the chances? This should strike some fear into any other organizations trying the same shtick.

Introducing the Cancun Rebbe....

Even in the sun soaked beaches of Cancun there is a Rabbi that can be found. That Rabbi is Mendel Druk who is available to assist with challah or perhaps a minyan. Chron.com has an interesting article about this Rabbi from Detroit who now finds himself meeting Jews from all over who are in pursuit of relaxation (even on Rosh Hashanah?). Jewishcancun.com can give you more information on what this new Rabbi can offer.

Teaching Hebrew in Public School Lead to Judaism?

Some fear that a new public school to be opened by a Rabbi, will lead to teaching religion. Ben Gamla Charter School, will be the very first publicly funded school and this is scaring some people.Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, for example is just one of those individuals. ''It could happen because some people believe culture and religion are inseparable, or it could happen because many of the teachers and administrators are of one religion and don't recognize the problem," he said. Interestingly the ADL has even expressed some concern. As the article points out there is religion in public schools to some degree and certainly Christmas is discussed on some level.