Satmar Hasidic Family Busted in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

By Josh Nathan-Kazis November 13, 2014

FBI agents reportedly arrested more than a dozen members of Hasidic communities in Williamsburg, Monsey, and Kiryas Joel this morning in connection with a mortgage fraud investigation.

An FBI spokesman confirmed the arrests to the Forward. Neither the FBI nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has made an official statement on the arrests or the investigation.

Communal insiders told the Forward that those arrested were members of a single family connected to the Satmar Hasidic community. The family is said to have connections to both branches of the split Hasidic sect.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is slated to hold a press conference at noon in White Plains to announce the arrests. NBC reported that the suspects will be arraigned in federal court in White Plains on Thursday afternoon.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

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