Yaakov Weingarten - convicted of major charity fraud - must pay $522,000

Times of Israel   A Brooklyn man who pleaded guilty to felony tax fraud in an Israeli charities scam was ordered to pay more than a half-million dollars in a civil suit. 

The judgment against Yaakov Weingarten, 53, and his wife, Rivka, was handed down Wednesday in Kings County Supreme Court, according to a news release from New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. 

The Weingartens must give $360,000 to UJA-Federation of New York and pay $162,000 in civil fines and penalties. He also was barred from fundraising for nonprofits.

Weingarten pleaded guilty to tax fraud in May for raising funds for phony Jewish nonprofit organizations. He was sentenced to five years’ probation after paying $90,685 in restitution to New York State.

According to Schneiderman’s office, Weingarten and his associates bilked thousands of North American donors with claims that he was collecting money for Israeli charitable purposes such as emergency medical services and programs for terror victims, sick children and the poor. He also failed to report his income on tax returns.[...]

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Rivky Stein & Yoel Weiss: Rifky's Beis Din does not exist at 1278 E 72nd st.

Guest Post by Verification of Address

I contacted twice Chabad of Georgetown of 1278 east 72nd Street Brooklyn NY 11234 via phone#: 1(718)444-3770, and spoke twice to Choshuva Rebbetzin Holtzberg; After she consulted twice with her Choshuva husband HaRav Avrohom Holtzberg שליט"א, then she came back with a very clear answer (on behalf of her husband, the רב), that the above חב"ד of Georgetown is NOT related in any way to any בית דין or דיינים and NEVER hosts any outside בית דין\דיינים in their Shul/חב"ד of Georgetown; Furthermore, they are NOT related/involved in any way with the controversial divorce case of Stein vs. Weiss. 

Therefore, their above mentioned address, is definitely not affiliated in any way with that so called בית דין of Mill Basin, NOR it's so called אב בית דין ודיינים (and their so called חרם NEITHER). So therefore, there's definitely NO point at all, for Yoylie Weiss to try to also go at the above mentioned, as confirmed with owners of that same address.... Now, let's just hope that the 1278 East 77th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236, is the Correct Address of that בית דין and hopefully things will work out right, and that it's Rabbis and both parties etc. will all show up at that same place and time to achieve the goal of getting that Get controversy OVER.

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Rifky Stein & Yoel Weiss: The embarrassing silence from the media about being fooled by Rivky's story

I was about to write a post on this subject when I received the following cogent and sensitive comment that I decided to post it instead.

 =================

Guest post by  Guy Gustafson

What I find really wacky is that after all these recent developments and exposures none of the media circles have put out an updated or new story.

All the old stories are still up there and doing a search on google news for "Rivky Stein" or "Yoel Weiss" brings up news articles from the New York Daily News to Jweekly (and about this issue the Daily News hasn't said anything new about this for days and Jweekly hasn't said anything for weeks).

The articles on news sites and various blogs (aside from this blog) read as if the verdict is already in and that Yoel Weiss is condemned and that Rivky speaks truth as if she gave the Torah on Mount Sinai.

I think Yoel has more then vindicated himself and at the very least has shed some serious doubts on Rivky's story which I would think she would have to defend... but no she does not because as far as the media in concerned the story hasn't changed since they first heard about it and only if you happen to read this Daas Torah blog will you get an alternate side to Rivky's story.

I don't understand it. I would of thought the media would have a field day with this. I mean this is drama and entertainment of the highest order (sorry Yoel but it is, I myself don't follow news stories so much anymore but this one had me hooked from the beginning, its so alarming!)

Everybody loves it when a liar gets outed in the media, look what happened when Susan Smith and Lance Armstrong got there lies smashed into pieces (the latter spent a whole session with Oprah and his sociopath sob story).

I'm not saying that this case is anywhere close to the level of exposure of the above heavyweight all time media highlights that will never be forgotten. but this is a very serious Jewish community issue and its not an isolated incident.

When men start dating after this they are going to be obsessively looking for signs of psycho with a magnifying glass in every woman thus extending dating for months or years. I imagine men are going to turn away a lot more women for marriage at the slightest perceived sign of instability or wackiness.

But better that then to marry a super-psycho! Background checks, private investigators and references equal to that of getting a job in the US secret service will be necessary. cause I'll admit until this circus I myself was not too concerned about this issue but now its a very very big concern.

I'm fairly confident to say that most people have met people like Rivky Stein somewhere throughout there lives so everybody knows they exist.

I remember people I met at all levels of schooling and at various work places. People who I initially found to be engaging and interesting and with time passing small signs of crazy started showing and then they accumulated to the point of discomfort and then fear - cause they got too close and how could I get rid of them now?

If you have been in that kind of situation you know how uncomfortable and spooky it can be and how much effort and thought has to go into avoiding them after you have befriended them. Now imagine that happening after you married someone cause you didn't check them out closely enough during the dating process!

So for the sake of this alone (although exonerating Yoel is in its self a good enough reason) that the shofar on this issue should not be put away but be blown to warn unmarried Jewish men to be REALLY careful and scrutinizing when dating.

So this is why its important for these new developments to get into the media; news, blogs, and social networking sights need to be brought up to date.

Yet aside from Daas Torah - there's silence all around and worse; the perpetuation of the old and obviously fabricated story. people on Facebook (not that I'm a member thank G-d) are still condemning Yoel Weiss and calling for him to be burned at the stake.

They are ready with their cyber pitchforks and burning torches to form a mob and cast him out of existence with such certainty that he is Frankenstein. this is very likely to be just because they haven't heard latest events making up much more then half the story.

So if the people heard the closer to full story they can stop screaming to rip off Yoel's head and stick it on a spike, step back, think, reform their opinions and apologize to Yoel and ask forgiveness for so naively accepting lashon hora (evil speech) and spreading it. At the very least they can just stop verbally bashing him and celebrating Rivky raising her ego to the heavens.

But I guess if that never happens Yoel will just have to pack his bags cause his reputation got so tarnished that he can never live a normal life again and move here to Israel where nobody knows him thus fulfilling the mitzvah (commandment/obligation) of dwelling in the land of the Jewish people.

Hey if you look at it that way once again we see that every thing G-d does is good and there is a silver lining to every dark cloud. Come home Yoel the unmarried girls here need you!

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Rivky Stein & Yoel Weiss:Rivky Stein's "Beit Din" - Forgery in the name of a "higher calling"

Guest Post by RaP:

Once upon a time, forgery was an art that called for skill. In today's computerized world anyone can copy, create or photoshop almost anything. In recent years there has been a rise of printing falsified documents that have Halachic ramifications. It is now very easy for anyone to "copy and paste" the signatures of the most famous rabbis or create ex nihilo cyber and fictitious rabbis as if in a "movie". Once scanned, Halachicaly important documents can be easily forged and reproduced to suit almost any need or whim, especially for a "higher calling" made to fit!

Over the few years that this blog has been in existence such things have not been uncommon. During the time of the Tropper and EJF scandals concerning conversions, so-called Halachic "guidelines," "statements" and "declarations" came up from nowhere by forging the signatures of rabbis, manufactured out of thin air by means of photoshopping in order to prop up a point of view attacking the standing and positions of other rabbis deemed not sufficiently strict enough. All in the name of the higher calling of "stricter standards"! In another instance, even though a famous rosh yeshiva had requested that his signature not be used and removed from supposed declarations online, they were not removed in spite of that rosh yeshiva issuing a call and letter to say the exact opposite of what others were printing and posting, all in the name of the higher calling of "helping" a woman get her Jewish divorce.

Another instance from recent years is when a supposed "kol koreh" (signed notification made public and posted on street corners) was circulated with supposedly dozens of signatures against a popular Hasidic singer who was forced to cancel an expensive concert. Even after a number of rosh yeshivas and rabbis made it very clear that their signatures were forged, nothing was done to retract because, naturally, it was all for a "higher cause" of stopping concerts deemed "not frum enough" that made it "kosher" even if it was a provable prefabricated lie!

Now, with the proponents of those fighting for Rivky Stein to obtain her get (Jewish divorce), this phenomenon of forgery of Halachically important documents appears to have again reared its ugly head and risen to new heights of absurdity, with the seeming "manufacture" out of thin air of a fictitious "Beit Din" (court that rules on Halachic matters), complete with fake "summonses" and letters of "excommunication" for the one who supposedly defied this figment of someone's imagination. All this of course is done in the name of the "higher cause" of helping a suffering woman win her freedom from the father of her children.

What the forgers seem to forget in every case, is that sooner or later there is going to be a discovery by the public that documents were forged, especially serious documents with Halachic ramifications, and in every case the ones behind the forgery were revealed to be for what they are, not knights in shining armor fighting for a "higher cause" but just manipulative and desperate fools who deluded themselves that they can count on the world's gullibility to swallow their forgeries forever.

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Rivky Stein & Yoel Weiss: Rikvy the Aguna, the Selling of the Brooklyn Bridge and other tall tales - Yoel refutes her claims

Guest Post Yoel Weiss - 4th attempt to arrange a Get

I have not heard back form Rivky Stein, for 7 days or from any of her rabbonem, advisers, supporters, about a set time when to arrive at her Beis Din to arrange for the get, I therefore decided to write a 4th public announcement, directed to Rivky's supporters and to the entire Jewish community who has wholeheartedly donated funds to Rivky's cause.

I've sensed from comments on Rivkys Facebook, that many of you are not satisfied that I decided to provide Rivky the get as soon as August 6th, or even sooner as I announced in my 2nd public announcement. Instead of encouraging Rivky to show up to receive the get your comments seem to be all over the place - and clearly designed to instigate her not to show up, with all kinds of cockamamie excuses.

The big question that comes to mind is, why would Rivky's supporters attempt to hinder her receiving the get? After all, her entire website and public relation - fundraising was all about helping ''free the aguna Rivky Stein''.

I guess the answer is pretty simple. You probably know good and well by now, that Rivky concocted this entire Beis Din story. You know that there is NO such Beis Din. You know she never sent me any hazmonos. (summons to Beis Din) You know there was NO cherem.(excommunication order). All her crying kicking and screaming, and her entire website was designed to defraud the good hearted public, to shower Rivky and her accomplices with hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Beis Din and Excommunication order, was the necessary fundamental underpinning tool to shed creditability on Rivkys story. This false Beis Din excommunication order, obviously ignited the public to send her donations to help free the aguna.

Who would ever believe in their right mind, that this little innocent aguna, and her acquaintances had the guts to cut and paste documents to fabricate a Beis Din story, that has no hands or feet, all in order to fool the Jewish -and the non Jewish people worldwide, to swindle them out of their money to help the aguna. What a Chillul Hashem rl.

Now that you all know the truth, that Rivky bluffed her way through, concocted this entire Beis Din story why would any of you still support her crying wolf -- aguna tactic story .Why would any of you aid and abet and encourage a criminal extortion enterprise?!

The answer I believe is, that you probably still don't know the entire truth. You probably believe, that since this poor little aguna is telling a horrible abuse story, there must be some truth to the story. Because if there is smoke there must be fire. How else would it be possible for a young soft spoken frum woman, to dramatize such crazy stories?

So you think that the answer is, that some abuse must be true. On the other hand, I assure you, that very soon you will learn the entire truth, that not only was there NO Hazmonos/ NO Beis Din/ No Excommunication order, you will shockingly learn with hard evidence that there was never a fire, the entire abuse story is nothing but a smoke screen designed by Rivky's partners - all for monetary gains.

During the 4 years we lived together, Rivky never filed any complaints to any authorities, rabbis, or doctors. She has no evidence to support her abuse story whatsoever. She has no abuse pictures, she went to the mikva every month and not a single reliable witness can support her abuse story. Its all a bunch of dramatized bubamayses which she and her accomplices made up. They, detected early on Rivky's weakness and desire for attention, they decided she is the perfect prey for them. Hoping to make millions of dollars they manipulated her to file these ridicules ludicrous false allegations, that she was kidnapped, and my entire family tortured her for the entire 4 years we lived together...crazy ah? or crazier then crazy?

The evidence surrounding the circumstances during the 4 years in question, mirrors a happily married Rivky, spending her days shopping, eating at restaurants, attending weddings and parties, walking in the park with the kids, often vacationing etc etc etc.. Her story that she put up a show the entire 4 years, with glitz and smiley faces, all because she was so so afraid of me, holds no water and makes absolutely no sense. The facts reveal just the opposite. Rivky abused and terrorized me the entire past 2 years.

She filed false allegations against me and against my family demanding 480 million dollars, obviously she is not and was not afraid of me. She had me arrested 5 times under false pretences where each time I spent the night in jail, obviously she was not afraid of me. She shocked the conscious of the entire Jewish community by launching her Chillul Hashem website, lying and deceiving the media and the entire world collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity, slandering me and my entire family as never heard before,--- obviously she is not afraid of me.

Imagine, Rivky, even had the guts to post a false Beis Din/ Hazmonos, / false excommunication order / false Beis Din address that never existed. Think about it for a second... Does Rivky's actions fit this little fearful nebbish aguana that submitted herself to be kidnapped, raped, and tortured for 4 long years all because she was afraid of me?! I am certain if you decide to be honest with yourself - the answer is obvious.

The clear answer is that Rivky is far from the little goody goody goody girl, and she was never afraid of me. Just to the contrary, she was always the bully in the house. She always got what she wanted, when she wanted, and at any price. More to the point, Rivky's friends at school remember her to being a bully. On the other hand, I was never a bully, never had a drop of violence in me. Rivky's past two year actions make it clearer then clear that she is not the fearful woman, who would like her supporters to believe otherwise that she was always afraid of me. Rivky, would never put up with any abuse or bullying for one second, she has no issue voicing her opinion. She let herself be heard when she accused her now parents, father and mother of being abusive. She let herself be heard when she accused landlord son of abusing her which resulted in her getting evicted from her apartment.

These are all made up concocted stories by Rivky.

Simply put, the reason she was silent for 4 years, is because there was no abuse whatsoever. Her entire abuse story is based on greed, and rests on fabricated lies and delusions. Something she has been suffering from since she is 11 years old.

Rivky, through her media campaign, has painted me as a rapist, kidnapper, slavemaster, abuser, thief etc etc.

 Its time for everyone to acknowledge the clear truth - it is all a big lie!

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Rapfogel Sentenced to Three and a Half Years for Stealing From Charity

NY Times   The longtime executive director of a prominent and politically connected Jewish charity in New York was sentenced on Wednesday to three and a half years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from the organization.

The director, William E. Rapfogel, who led the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for two decades, faced a sentence of four to 12 years when he appeared at State Supreme Court in Manhattan before Justice Larry Stephen. But under the terms of a plea agreement he accepted in April, Mr. Rapfogel paid the remaining balance of $3 million in restitution in exchange for a shorter sentence of 3 ⅓ to 10 years. [...]

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Rav Sternbuch is sitting shiva for his sister a"h

bhol

ברוך דיין האמת: אמש נפטרה האשה החשובה מרת מסיא (מוזי) ליברמן ע"ה כשהיא בת 89 בפטירתה.

המנוחה ע"ה נולדה בלונדון בשנת תרפ"ה לאביה רבי אשר שטרנבוך זצ"ל. אביה שהיה סוחר היה מקורב להגאון רבי חיים עוזר גרודז'נסקי זצ"ל ולגר"א וסרמן הי"ד.

לאחר נישואיה עם הגאון רבי יצחק צבי ליברמן זצ"ל התגוררה במנצסט'ר ועמדה למען בעלה שהיה מרבני המקום. 

ניחום אבלים בבית אחיה ראב"ד העדה החרדית הגר"מ שטרנבוך בביתו ברחוב קצנלבוגן 4 שכונת הר נוף בירושלים לפנה"צ בין השעות 11:00 ל13:00 בצהריים ובערב מהשעה 18:00 עד 21:00 יתכן שבאחד מן הימים ישב בבני-ברק.

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