Report: Several N.J. Rabbis Arrested in Corruption Probe
Several rabbis reportedly were arrested as part of a public corruption and international money-laundering investigation in New Jersey.
According to media reports, among the 30 arrests made Thursday morning by the FBI were the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus, the deputy mayor of Jersey City and a New Jersey state assemblyman.
The Asbury Park Press reported that the rabbis arrested were religious leaders from Syrian Jewish neighborhoods in Deal and Elberon, as well as Brooklyn, N.Y. The newspaper said the investigation involved the Deal Yeshiva, a Sephardic institution that has a boys’ division in Ocean Township and a girls’ school in West Long Branch.
According to The Star-Ledger, the arrests are the result of a two-year probe by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service that began with an investigation of money transfers by members of the Syrian enclaves in Deal and Brooklyn, two tight-knit and wealthy communities.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the IRS removed at least three boxes from the Deal Yeshiva as students were arriving at school, The Star-Ledger reported, as well as several boxes from the Ohel Yaacob synagogue in the same town.
Law enforcement authorities are expected to announce more information about the arrests at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
