Photo Courtesy of Google
Haimoff lectures in Kew Gardens Hills and in his Flushing community (pictured).
By Forum Staff
A Flushing rabbi and a Long Island man have been charged with engaging in a scheme to extort $7 million from an individual in exchange for not providing purportedly incriminating information to law enforcement authorities, federal prosecutors announced on Monday.
Rabbi Igal Haimoff, 67, and Mark Weissman, 54, were arraigned on Monday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court. They were each released on a $250,000 bond.
According to the complaint, beginning in early 2017, Weissman advised the victim that unless he paid $6 million, another individual would provide incriminating information to law enforcement. Weissman enlisted Haimoff to allow his charity to receive the extorted funds, as a way to disguise the purpose of the transaction. Haimoff and Weissman ultimately created and transmitted a fraudulent charitable donation letter to the individual they believed would be sending the extorted funds from overseas. The letter, on the charity’s letterhead from Haimoff, stated:
“Thank you so much for your pledge of $6,000,000 towards our building campaign. Your generous donation will enable us to complete the construction of our Yeshiva building which is so vital for the continued growth of our Queens community. It is the generosity of donors such as yourself that provide us with the strength and ability to continue being there for the community. Thank you for being our partner in this most important endeavor. For your convenience, you can fire (sic) the funds to our bank account as follows…”
In fact, when transmitting the letter, Haimoff and Weissman were actually communicating with an undercover FBI agent, federal officials noted.
Haimoff later said that the individual was increasing the demand to $7 million. The victim indicated that he could provide these funds and Haimoff requested to be provided with a letter stating why the “donation” was increasing to $7 million. On or about June 6, Haimoff and the FBI agent exchanged the following emails, which read in part:
Undercover FBI Agent: “Dear Rabbi Haimoff, I have learned that there is additional structural work required for the construction of the Yeshiva building for the Charity. As such I would like to increase my pledge from $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 to assist you with the project…Kind regards…”
