Rabbi injured in Poway shooting pleads guilty to tax fraud
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein pleaded guilty in a scheme which resulted in more than £4.9m in fraudulent donations, and in a £1.19m loss to the US government.
The rabbi who lost a finger in a shooting attack on a Chabad synagogue in Poway, California, in 2019 pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein pleaded guilty Tuesday in a scheme in which donors contributed to his synagogue but then got most of the money back, enabling the donor to claim a tax deduction. A charging document detailing the scheme was unsealed in federal court in San Diego, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The scheme resulted in more than £4.9m ($6.2 million) in fraudulent donations, resulting in a £1.19m ($1.5 million) loss to the federal government. Goldstein could face up to five years in prison.
Goldstein retired from the Chabad synagogue in November, seven months after confronting a gunman who entered his synagogue on April 27, 2019, the last day of Passover. The attack claimed the life of one congregant: Laurie Gilbert Kaye.
In an op-ed published in the New York Times two days after the attack, Goldstein wrote that he was living on borrowed time, and would strive to make every action he performed meaningful. Shortly after that, he met with President Donald Trump at the White House and called the president “a mensch par excellence,” using the Yiddish term for an upright person. Vice President Mike Pence visited the Poway synagogue with his wife last summer.
“From here on in I am going to be more brazen,” Goldstein wrote in the Times. “I am going to be even more proud about walking down the street wearing my tzitzit and kippah, acknowledging God’s presence. And I’m going to use my voice until I am hoarse to urge my fellow Jews to do Jewish. To light candles before Shabbat. To put up mezuzas on their doorposts. To do acts of kindness.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the investigation of Chabad of Poway began years before the attack. A search warrant was served on the synagogue in October, 2018. Prosecutors allege that the scheme was part of a broader effort involving the synagogue and related non-profits. In one instance, prosecutors say Goldstein bought gold bars and coins in an effort to conceal a donation.
Chabad headquarters in New York condemned Goldstein in a statement, saying it moved to relieve him of his duties after it learned he was under investigation last year.
“Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein’s actions broke the law, breached the trust vested by the United States in its stewards of charitable organisations, and violated everything that Judaism and our movement stand for,” the group said.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
