The leader of a Southern California synagogue founded in 1986 and who was shot in the hand during a terrorist attack in 2019 has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud.
The Associated Press reported that Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was injured in the 2019 attack on the Chabad of Poway pleaded guilty Tuesday and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors will likely recommend probation, the outlet reported, as part of the plea deal.
More from the AP:
Goldstein, who founded Chabad of Poway near San Diego in 1986, collected $6.2 million in fake donations to the synagogue and affiliates and returned 90% to contributors with phony receipts, allowing them to deduct the full amount from their taxes, prosecutors said. Goldstein kept the remaining 10%, or $620,000, for himself.
Goldstein acknowledged concealing a fake donation of more than $1.1 million in late 2017 by purchasing about $1 million in gold coins and giving them to the phony donor.
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Goldstein acknowledged defrauding three unnamed Fortune 500 companies out of $134,000 for matching employee donations. The employees deducted the fake donations from their taxes, and Goldstein kept the corporate donations for himself. One firm was identified in the plea agreement as a San Diego-based telecommunications company, an apparent reference to Qualcomm Inc.
The rabbi also admitted taking about $185,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services by submitting fake invoices.
Robert Brewer, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego, during a news conference about the charges brought up Goldstein’s national role following the 2019 terror attack:
His role after the 2019 terrorist attack was exemplary. He became a significant advocate for peace and elimination of violence based on religious hatred. He spoke all over the world and sent a strong message of peace.
Brewer said the scam Goldstein orchestrated was called “the 90-10 tax fraud scheme.”
The money from FEMA, Brewer said, was related to the 2007 California wildfires and suggested Goldstein’s crimes actually dated back to the 1980s and not 2010, as the rabbi wrote in his plea agreement.
Brewer added that Goldstein was involved in “an elaborate, long-term scheme” that “involved careful planning, attention to detail and significant deception all to give the appearance of legitimate donations to the Chabad and lawful deductions,” NBC San Diego reported.
Goldstein established Chabad of Poway in 1986 and until 2018 served as the synagogue’s director and head rabbi. The synagogue was attacked on April 27, 2019, when a 19-year-old entered the building and began firing. One woman was killed, and Goldstein was shot in his hand, losing his index finger. Another man was shot in the leg, and his 8-year-old niece was hit by bullet fragments. The shooter was the one who called 911 about the attack and is still awaiting trial.