rabbi charged stealing from disabled kids

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alice Dampman Humel <alicedh@verizon.net>
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 11:40:45 -0400
Subject: Re: rabbi charged stealing disabled kids
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List <blind-democracy@octothorp.org>

Carl,
I had very similar thoughts and reactions when I read the article...
Sarcasm, Sheldon?
Maybe...but as with much sarcasm, it reflects the, or at least one,
truth...not saying whether that truth is good, bad , or indifferent, not
hear, anyhow...
Alice
On Jun 10, 2014, at 10:56 AM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:

> Joe and All Believers in the American Way.
>
> Was it Morgan, or Hill, or someone else who said something to the
> effect that if you're going to steal, don't rob the train, take the
> whole railroad.
> The sin of these Rabbis was their small mindedness. They did the
> American thing, steal from the poor in order to live the "Chosen"
> life, but they failed to go the distance. They should have taken more
> notice of how the "big boys" do it on Wall Street. While they are
> headed off to pay the price for their petty theft, the big time crooks
> are really living that good life that the Rabbis longed for. And
> there are so many great examples of unfettered greed to draw from.
> Why, just this morning I learned that the student loan debt is over a
> trillion dollars. Larger than all credit card debt. Now there are
> some crooks to be proud of! Stealing the future from our children,
> right out from under our noses. And what about the fellows who have
> cleverly figured out how to steal the very Souls from our poor Black
> and Latino citizens by building private "holding pens" in order to
> squeeze some really cheap labor, and even handing us taxpayers the
> bill. And then there's the squeeze on our elders, and the really big
> rollers who play war games with our children and our tax dollars.
> Yup, those Rabbis were pretty dumb, and they deserve what they get.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
> On 6/10/14, joe harcz Comcast <joeharcz@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Rabbi charged with stealing $12.4 million from New York disabled kids |
>> Reuters
>>
>> (Reuters) - A New York rabbi and three others were indicted for stealing
>> over $12.4 million in public aid for disabled pre-schoolers and using it to
>> spruce
>>
>> up their homes, get catering discounts and fund a relative's cosmetics
>> business, authorities said on Tuesday.
>>
>>
>>
>> The four men, who had ties to one of the city's largest providers of special
>> education services for disabled pre-schoolers, were due in court on Tuesday
>>
>> on criminal charges in a 42-count indictment, including grand larceny,
>> identity theft, and falsifying business records, Queens District Attorney
>> Richard
>>
>> Brown said in a statement.
>>
>>
>>
>> If convicted, each faces up to 25 years in prison.
>>
>>
>>
>> They are accused of stealing money meant to benefit the Island Child
>> Development Center in Queens, a non-profit special education provider for
>> Orthodox
>>
>> Jewish children aged 3 to 5.
>>
>>
>>
>> "It is disheartening to see a betrayal of the magnitude alleged in this
>> indictment," Brown said in a statement.
>>
>>
>>
>> Rabbi Samuel Hiller, who is the center's assistant director, and Roy
>> Hoffman, the center's independent auditor, were accused of using the money
>> to fix up
>>
>> their homes. Hoffman spent $300,000 for a house redesign and diverted
>> $15,000 to his wife's make-up business. Hiller spent $30,000 on home
>> plumbing work,
>>
>> the prosecutor said.
>>
>>
>>
>> Hiller also was accused of diverting $8 million to various unrelated
>> religious schools and camps, including $3 million to B'nos Bais Yaakov
>> Academy, a private
>>
>> all-girls school where he is principal.
>>
>>
>>
>> The New York State Comptroller's Office said they uncovered the fraud when
>> the center's former executive director, Ira Kurman, ran off with his books
>> and
>>
>> records just before a scheduled routine audit meeting in the summer of
>> 2012.
>>
>>
>>
>> In the indictment, Kurman was accused of making more than $143,000 in loans
>> to community members, including a caterer in exchange for discounts for his
>>
>> daughter's wedding and his son's Bar Mitzvah.
>>
>>
>>
>> A fourth man, Daniel Laniado, described as an investor in the center, was
>> accused of using check cashing locations to liquidate more than $1 million
>> of
>>
>> checks meant to benefit the center.
>>
>>
>>
>> The center received roughly $27 million in state funding between 2005 and
>> 2012.
>>
>>
>>
>> In addition to the criminal charges, the District Attorney's Office sought
>> forfeiture of over $11 million, of which $1 million has already been
>> repaid.
>>
>>
>>
>> Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for
>> comment.
>>
>>
>>
>> (Editing by Barbara Goldberg; editing by Andrew Hay)
>>
>> FILED UNDER:
>>
>> U.S.
>>
>>
>>
>> Source:
>>
>> http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/us-usa-disabled-new-york-idUSBREA4C0NI20140513
>>
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