This needs a Sherlock Holmes
Six years ago, an Orthodox Rabbi and mystic who traces his lineage to King David moved to New York from Israel and amassed a notable following. Real estate titans fetched him at the airport. Members of Congress attended his Hebrew classes. Even LeBron James, who is not Jewish, borrowed a friend’s yacht to consult the Rabbi in private.
Lately though, the image of the Rabbi, Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, 38, has seemed tarnished. Millions of dollars in donations to the Rabbi’s congregation cannot be accounted for, according to his aides and lawyers. Articles in Jewish publications have questioned his judgment. Camera crews have trailed him, with reporters shouting questions about improprieties.
Now, according to the New York Times, the Rabbi’s close followers are disclosing what they say is the source of many of his troubles. They said they told federal investigators that the rabbi had been the victim of a bizarre embezzlement and extortion plot that was carried out by two former members of his inner circle, who stole his congregation’s money and tried to frame him.
While the claims of the Rabbi’s followers have not been proved and no one has been charged with a crime, the United States attorney’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stepped in and have been carrying out an extensive inquiry into the two men over the last year, federal officials said.
Rabbi, congregation seen as victims by authorities
“Both the Rabbi and the organization as a whole are being viewed by the investigation as victims,” said Arthur L. Aidala, Rabbi Pinto’s lawyer in New York. “Based on the questioning of the witnesses that we are privy to, the targets of the investigation are individuals who worked for or on behalf of the Rabbi’s organization.”
The Rabbi’s followers and lawyers said they told federal investigators that a former aide to the Rabbi, an Israeli named Ofer Biton, 39, had pocketed millions of dollars in donations that were intended for the Rabbi’s charity.
Mr. Biton’s lawyer in New York, Jeffrey A. Udell, denied the accusations. He said Mr. Biton did not have “any involvement whatsoever in any plot” against Rabbi Pinto.
The Rabbi’s followers have also charged that Mr. Biton and Ronn Torossian, a public relations agent based in Manhattan, engaged in a scheme in which they leaked purportedly damaging information about the Rabbi to reporters. Then, the followers said, Mr. Biton pushed to have Mr. Torossian put on retainer to help put an end to the bad publicity.
Mr. Torossian, who first attended services in Rabbi Pinto’s congregation in 2008, said he would “have no comment on these absurd allegations.”
Mr. Torossian, 37, has a reputation as an aggressive publicist prone to sending off vitriolic e-mails to his adversaries. In 2008, his firm, 5W Public Relations, was accused of posting fake comments on a blog in an effort to defend a client, Agriprocessors, which at the time was ensnared in a scandal over conditions at its kosher meatpacking plant.
With a publicist like this, who needs outside enemies?
Some of the fake comments, crude and arrogant, were written under the name of a critic of the plant. Mr. Torossian’s firm later acknowledged that the posts had come from “a senior staff member.”
Mr. Torossian has ties to gossip columnists in New York City because of his work representing hip-hop celebrities like Sean Combs. He has also represented Israeli officials and Jewish organizations.
As evidence that Mr. Torossian was trying to damage the Rabbi’s reputation, the Rabbi’s followers pointed to news coverage over the last two years and a gossip item in September in The Daily News. The item said the Rabbi had dodged a camera crew from “Nightline” that wanted to question him about his financial affairs. (“Nightline,” an ABC News program, has not broadcast anything about the Rabbi.)
Federal investigators in New York City, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that they were examining the roles of Mr. Biton and Mr. Torossian in the disappearance of the money from the Rabbi’s congregation, but they would not provide details.
Several followers of Rabbi Pinto said in interviews that they had been questioned by F.B.I. agents about Mr. Biton and Mr. Torossian.
Rabbi Pinto declined to be interviewed for this article, but he allowed his lawyers to answer questions about the case.
People line up for hours to receive Rabbi Pinto’s blessings
A scion of two dynasties of Moroccan Jewish scholars who were revered as mystics, Rabbi Pinto was trained as a Rabbi from an early age and is often mentioned as a candidate for Chief Rabbi of Israel, where he first established his congregation, Shuva Israel.
Despite his success in New York, he has been criticized by some Orthodox Rabbis who say the frenzied atmosphere around him can sometimes be cultlike, with people lining up for hours to receive his blessings.
Rabbi Pinto made headlines in Israel earlier this year over a public feud with his father-in-law, Argentina’s Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Ben Hamo. His father-in-law accused him of trying to conceal his ownership of two apartments in Jerusalem. Rabbi Ben Hamo quickly retracted his accusation, but the two men remain estranged.
In New York, Rabbi Pinto’s base is in a building at 122 East 58th Street that Shuva Israel bought for $28.5 million, financed largely by donations from followers.
In addition to young scholars in black hats, his congregation includes people in the retail and jewelry trades, as well as real estate titans: Ofer Yardeni, a founder of Stonehenge Partners; Isaac Tshuva, owner of the Plaza Hotel; and George Klein, a longtime Republican power broker.
Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto - Millions of dollars donated to the congregation are missing - and FBI are investigating.jpg
