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Saturday, October 22, 2005

Chassidic rabbis implicated in Colombian drug trade

I will keep posting the criminal behavior that is so prevalent in the Jewish community. Let the readers decide how low the community has sunk and what to do about what has become acceptable behavior.

ERIC J. GREENBERG
N.Y. Jewish Week


Berish Grunfeld, 64, president of the Bobover yeshiva and an executive director of Bobov's New York institutions, said nothing as federal prosecutors charged him and 11 others in a conspiracy to launder millions of dollars in illegal drug profits for Colombian drug dealers through the bank accounts of the yeshiva and synagogue of Bobov. The largest Chassidic sect in Boro Park and the second largest in the state after Satmar, it has perhaps as many as 30,000 adherents.

The complaint charges that Grunfeld and Rabbi Mahir Reiss, 47, laundered tens of millions in drug money through the bank accounts of the Bobover Yeshiva, Congregation Eitz Chaim and Chaim Shel Shulem, believed to be a free-loan society and apparently located at the Bobover World Headquarters on 47th Street.

They are accused also of helping the drug dealers buy an airplane that is commonly used to transport illegal drugs.


The rabbis and others allegedly skimmed 15 percent to 18 percent of each transaction for themselves, federal officials said.

"Money launderers are indispensable partners of major drug traffic, and the cynical act of using religious institutions to conceal drug proceeds is particularly reprehensible," declared Zachary Carter, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in announcing the charges at the downtown Brooklyn courthouse Monday.

Grunfeld and Reiss, as well as Reiss' brother Abraham, who also was charged, face up to 20 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. They each were released on a $750,000 bond. Reiss secured his bond in part by committing his $3 million residence.

Reaction to news of the arrests on the streets of Boro Park was a mix of shock and anger. One resident, asked for comment, said testily, "Look elsewhere for a story."

Others, like Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Boro Park, downplayed the fact that those arrested were rabbis, saying, "Everyone in this community is a rabbi."

Still others stressed that the matter should be seen in personal, not communal, terms. And still others surmised that Grunfeld may not have been fully aware that the money he was allegedly being asked to launder was connected to the drug trade.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Dunst said evidence indicated that "Bernard Grunfeld knew that this was the proceeds of drug trafficking or was deliberately closing his eyes, which under the legal standard makes him criminally culpable."

It is not the first time a Chassidic sect has been linked with the billion-dollar Colombian drug cartels.

In 1994, Satmar Rabbi Abraham Low, married to the niece of the Satmar rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, was convicted for conspiring to launder drug money -- part of an international network that laundered up to $5 million a week. Other cases have involved a Brooklyn shtiebel (elementary school) and a Lower Manhattan yeshiva.


A 100-page federal complaint announced charges that the rabbis and other Orthodox Jews joined with five New York members of a Colombian drug gang to launder $1.75 million in drug profits.

The complaint said Grunfeld was brought into the operation by Reiss, president of Realex Capital on Park Avenue, and his brother Abraham, a real estate executive from the Upper West Side.

In the complaint, Reiss is referred to by other defendants as "The Rabbi," "Uncle" or "Barbas," Spanish for "beard." Abraham Reiss was known also as "Roomie."

Nine others were also indicted Tuesday, the result of a three-year federal undercover operation that employed wiretaps and other devices, authorities said.

Federal officials said the alleged Bobov-Colombian connection worked like this:

Three middlemen went from a Long Island home to Manhattan, where they would pick up the drug money from Colombian drug dealers. The three would bring the cash to a safe house, an apartment at 243 W. 75th St., to be counted. Investigators said Abraham Reiss would bring the money to Grunfeld, who would cut checks to people named on a list faxed to the Reiss brothers, according to Dunst, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.

A key part of the scam, officials said, was the attempt to hide the bank transactions from federal authorities by keeping each check under $10,000 -- the amount that triggers automatic review by federal banking officials.

The complaint charges that Grunfeld and Israel Knobloch, who was also charged, created the structure to divide $1 million into 95 separate deposits to avoid federal scrutiny.

67 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

These criminals are, no doubt, beneath contempt. But why are you publishing these very old stories (many years old) now? At least update us on the current status of these cases.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:35:00 PM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

That is just the point.
These crooks have resumed NORMAL lives in the leadership of their groups like nothing ever happenned.

Just the opposite, they are viewed as heroes.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:40:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

y.y. put out a warrant, but nobody listens.

same chassidishe toireh.

anybody know a good chinese laundry?

Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:50:00 PM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

Scandal upon scandal continues as we sit here tonight.
The rebbes are complicit in these crimes.
Leib Pinter has been involved in one scandal after another for the last thirty years, yet Art Scroll published and promotes his book just a few months ago.
Sick Bastards!

Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:20:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

uoj's point seems to be that all chassidic groups are crooks.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:21:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So name one that isn't racked with scandals?

Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:42:00 PM  
Blogger Y.Y. said...

good news no crooked stuff going on lately so he has to dig way back

Saturday, October 22, 2005 10:14:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can't wait for UOJ'S post retracting the kolko story. And can't wait for his identity to finally be known. JERUSALEM JEW.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 11:12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know the facts of the Rav Abraham Low, he was totally setup by the police. And after he got out of jail, he was screwed over by the community. He didn't resume his previous posts, they kicked him out of the shul he ran, and he was forced to live on a different side of the community and maintains a low-profile life in a different shul (not as a Rabbi there). The government which hates yiddishkeit is setting up all these great Rabbonim.

Saturday, October 22, 2005 11:26:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yea the police are out to get these
rabbis!! What falsehood.These rabbis open themselves up to
these problems because they want to make a fast buck. They are not educated, and so drug dealing is the next best thing for quick cash. Yea'
all these embezzalments are set ups.When we stop making excuses perhapes fraud will stop. The rebbes have to take responsibity
for this lack of morals and bussiness ethics. What a sad thing when excuses are made for stealing?
You should be ashamed.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 12:07:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

y.y. is happy there are no recent scandals. New Square and Lakewood are built on government abuses.

African Americans and our community have much in common.

"good news."

Sunday, October 23, 2005 12:41:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know Low's personal secretary. Luke Ford, you got the whole story wrong. What used to happen was that these Rabbis from Israel used to come to LA to collect money, and everytime they would get an American check, the Israeli banks would give them a surcharge per check, so instead of paying alot in surcharges, those collecting money would have the donors make their check out to "Mogen Avraham" (the name of Low's old shul), and then in the end, the Shul would make out one big check to the collector with only one surcharge instead of a bunch. Because the Shul made out such big checks all the time, the Gvn't got suspicious so they sent in a guy pretending to be collecting Tzedakah to "launder" money through Low, and Low, not knowing anything about such things, agreed and he was thus arrested on the spot. Low used to daven on Hoshana Raba at the Chassidish Kollel in LA even when he was in jail, it was a yearly event that many people looked forward to attending.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 3:53:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There were nine congregants at Lowe's shul who were actively involved in laundering their dirty money through the shul, the main thieves being Sol Kest, Jaime Deutsch and Armin Mandel.
They gave Lowe millions of dollars of cash in L.A., and the money wound up in Switzerland and in Israel in "legitimate" bank accounts.
These three guys are still paying Lowe to keep quiet, and support him and his family, in addition to "buying" him a light sentence.

From a real insider.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 12:45:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's a lie, I know all three of those people; they would never engage in such actions. You are saying richilus against staples of the Jewish community in LA.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 12:49:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Add "Rabbi" Jacob Friedman to the list.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 1:45:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

STOP it. Now you besmirching the honor of the Litvish Kollel in LA also?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 2:03:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is NO honor among thieves.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 2:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

But they are not theives. They are supporters of Torah.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 2:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

staples is responsible. what a fool i've been. i thought office depot was the place.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 4:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 5:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You in L.A.and N.Y. are blinded by money, you can't even see a crook who is stealing in front of your eyes.They throw a bone here and there, to cover their true selves.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:09:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Four thieves were named above in the L.A. Colombian drug money laundering.The other five were:
The dead Moshe Weiss
The dead Joe Kohn
The almost dead Jacob Kaszirer
The Chabad Maniac Berel Weiss
The Wild & Crazy Gur Gangster Shmiel Chelminicki.

A Real Insider

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:18:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Get your facts straight, Barry Weiss is a Satmar, not Chabadsker.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:27:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

facts straight.

anyone wanna start a kolel sponsored by bingo?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:31:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

now you are trying to defame HaRav Henig?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well then real insider, let's how well you know the case. What was the name of Rabbi Low's secretary and what happened to him?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:38:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I said "Berel" Weiss, Barry's uncle, the Chabad Maniac.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:39:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh you mean Henig who says daf yomi by the world famous minuvel, gangster, and wife beater, Chaim Boruch Rubin?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:45:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Lowdown,
How stupid and crazy are you?
You can't believe the crap you are writing!
The people that accepted this thief as a shliuch tzibbur are as F***** up as you!

Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Simcha, you don't know the exact details of the case, you weren't there. I was. I know. He's innocent.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 7:02:00 PM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

OK guys, you are missing the point.
I have a series of ten postings that will demonstrate to all that have a brain how widespread the thievery has gone.
THERE IS NOT AN HONEST PERSON IN THE ORTHODOX JEWISH COMMUNITY IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS.ALL THIS STEALING IS TRACED TO THE REBBES DIRECTLY.
NOTICE THAT THE BANK ACCOUNTS THAT MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE BEING LAUNDERED THROUGH ARE THE ORGANIZATION'S ACCOUNTS.
NOBODY TELL ME THE TOP CROOK DID NOT KNOW!
STAY TUNED!

Sunday, October 23, 2005 7:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lowdown,
So was John Gotti.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 7:12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the problem is john gotti does not wear a stremel, and acts like a pious jew.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 8:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The worst of the worst people run drug money through a shul or yeshiva. there is no lower human being in the world. rebbes my ass

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:10:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lowe's entire family, including his father, brother and the entire present Satmer clan have been in trouble with the law for thirty years plus.His brother did jail time as well, and his father is a known money launderer through Satmar.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chaim Boruch Rubin, woman chaser even with his shtrimel and Shul.
L.A. gets what they deserve if this guy has a shul.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

L.A. Jewish community is a sad joke.
the leaders are either crook or crooker or dumb and dumber.
An earthquake full of losers, one by one.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the problem is we ,all of us, let these "people" get away with this .
They use their "holy" appearance as a guise to fill their fat bellies and desires at our expense.
Im a frum hard working jew who has to prove my honesty on an ongoing basis because these low lifes want to make a fast dollar. We should shun them and chase them from our communities.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:36:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

stay tooned?

there must be better things to think about on hoshana rabbah.

What about those non profits who profiteer on aravos?

A scandal for the l.a. blog.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:51:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you jews are the worst.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 11:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wonder whats next?

Sunday, October 23, 2005 11:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Sunday, October 23, 2005 11:49:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dont tell me the bobover shlomo didnt know what was going on under his nose by his personal friend grunfeld.holy man, my eye.all ganovim.

Monday, October 24, 2005 12:26:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no excuses for thieves. nope.

"you jews are the worst."

great service this blog is providing...

Monday, October 24, 2005 7:59:00 AM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

If you are so ashamed of this blog, mr. bigshot, what are you doing to stop these Jewish gangsters?

Monday, October 24, 2005 11:16:00 AM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

Thanks Acher fot the chizuk, I will continue to beat these guys up on the internet forever, until the community throws them out.

Monday, October 24, 2005 11:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jerusalem Jew.

The Kolko story is true. I will be a witness. I was one of his victims. How dare you defend him? Are you related?

Maybe if you were a victim you would think twice about your comments.

Monday, October 24, 2005 11:29:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

uoj, our vigilante, superman, the american way.

mighty mouse

Monday, October 24, 2005 2:46:00 PM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

I have the names, addresses and phone #'s of seventeen people that will testify against Kolko.
Mostly victims, they will go public even though they risk everything.
Two doctors who treated the victims, four parents and two former associates of Kolko.
I have just begun to accumulate the list.
Come on J.J., tell your friend/relative to BRING IT ON!

Monday, October 24, 2005 3:03:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Monday, October 24, 2005 6:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Monday, October 24, 2005 11:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A scandal like this would bring down the Catholic Church.Synagogues and rabbis laundering drug money is worse, much worse than the pedophile scandal at the church.Shame on you Jewish people for keeping these people in power.Utterly shameful.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 1:42:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 3:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 6:48:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what antonio is saying is you are sick fucking jews

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:04:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:58:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hay unortho what is bringing you on with this old old stories of grunfeld and bobov this case as closed over 8 years ago why open old wounds again!

Thursday, October 27, 2005 12:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Antonio and John:

Don't kid yourselves, I'd never give up being a Jew to being what you are.
If ever a religion arose that was based on plagerism, Christianity is the one that takes the cake.
If you guys think that Jews are sick, guess what Jesus was? Nope! he wasn't a Roman Catholic or a Protestant minister. He was a JEW!
And, if you think being a pedophile is better than laundering money, you're probably a sex offender. No sane person with children would EVER agree with you.

Thursday, October 27, 2005 4:48:00 PM  
Blogger Paul Mendlowitz said...

Bobover,
Because their LAUNDRY is operating TODAY at FULL CAPACITY.
Different guys doing the ironing and folding!!!

Thursday, October 27, 2005 8:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

proudjew-what are you so proud of, you smelly bastards. Stealing to you is like eating food. your god is money. who ya kidding?

Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

John:

I detect much misplaced anger and jealousy in your words. It wasn't the Jews that made your life the misery that it has become. Why don't you go to some self help classes to boost your own morale.

I don't steal, nor do many other Jews.

As far as smelly is concerned, Jews in history always bathed themselves way more than their gentile neighbors. We probably still do.

Last I checked what you guys do is called a Puerto Rican shower.

Try soap and water first.

Friday, October 28, 2005 10:36:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

unortho, you are looking in old garbage to open new wounds what is your purpose this story of bobover administrator is an old story and hos no remote resembelance to what bobov is today it was a mistake and this people involved paid money and time in jail for this if teshuva helps why are you acting like a goy and do not forgive - as the mishna says after a pesak din,that they are called tzadikim shekibil alayhem hes hadin ( although here it was a dina demalchusa dina issue )
unless you have a different issue with bobov please explain and maybe we can clarify or fix your hurt

Friday, October 28, 2005 11:29:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

john, my brother.

Thursday, November 10, 2005 8:50:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So what ever became of Alan Weston, former president of the Southern California College of Chiropractic, and the other alleged accomplice or Rabbi Abraham Low, Sharlesetta Brown?

Sunday, December 04, 2005 3:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

all I know is that "special agent Cameron Saxey" is as bad a man as anyone he investigates. He is a liar, an intimidater and a disgrace. He has destroyed so many innocent lives I hope someone pays him back someday.

Monday, January 02, 2006 11:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Antonio,

Please dont pester on our Jewish brothers with that kind of groundless righteousness. Catholic institutions don't necessarily have clean hands either... Sure, maybe not money laundering.. But how does covered-up child abuse sound to you? I fail to see how stealing/fraud would be worse than direct physical/psychological harm.

Let's make sure our floor is clean before pointing out the dirt on other people's floor.

Un-orthodox jew, i salute your effort at exposing the bad apples in your community.

May peace be on all people of good will.

Saturday, July 15, 2006 1:23:00 AM  

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