Will The Spinka Hasidim Scandal Slow Down The Money Laundering Rampant In Orthodox Yeshivas?

You would think the Spinka downfall would have put it to a stop. I’ve heard that even though only a few people have been named so far in that case, there is a long list of major donors in the hands of a federal grand jury who are going to be doing plea deals or facing indictment.

It is no coincidence that so many of the characters in Pico-Robertson’s latest fraud drama seem to pass through Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy — Rabbi Batzri, Rabbi Ben Zaken, Rabbi Toledano… Rabbi Gottesman was their man. They all have had similar arrangements with the Sephardic Academy (Maimonides Academy) and R. Ganev Kopfered.

(I give Morey Levovitz and his regime credit for not publicly running down Rabbi Gottesman once they took over Harkham Hillel and started running things by the book. They put an end to some shady dealings.)

The odds are better than even that a yeshiva is engaged in massive financial fraud such as money laundering and tax cheating.

When the Vietnam war was going on, yeshivas popped up all over Pico Blvd so that many orthodox Jews could avoid doing military service. The same thing happened in New York during World War II.

Does Orthdoox Judaism make Jews more ethical in their business dealings? What this community needs more than anything is some sort of ethical certification for business!

An Orthodox Jewish institution that pays all its taxes and does not facilitate money laundering and tax evasion? They shouldn’t be such freyers!