'FBI probing check fraud scheme on NYC-area shuls'
Checks ranging from $5 to $18,000 reported stolen from synagogues in Queens, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Michigan, says 'Daily News.'
By JPOST.COM STAFFdov hikind_311(photo credit: Courtesy)
The FBI is conducting an investigation into a check fraud scheme which swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from New York area synagogues, the New York Daily News reported Monday quoting Assemblyman Dov Hikind.Checks written for amounts ranging between $5 and $18,000 were reported stolen from synagogues in Queens, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Michigan, said the Daily News.RELATED:Madoff ‘clawback’ lawsuits going after Jewish groupsUpper West Side synagogue receives mailed bomb threat"This is as low as you can get, stealing from charities," the Daily News quoted Hikind as saying. "When money is involved, you always have unscrupulous people."The assemblyman said that he submitted the information to the FBI in December after hearing that at least 34 checks were taken from the temples.Naftali Horowitz, the director of the Bostoner Shul in Flatbush told the Daily News "I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to find out who had access to my office."Horowitz stated that checks totaling $5,000 were stolen from his office.Alan Hirsch, a member of the B'nai Israel congregation in Flatbush, said "They have no fear of God. Why would someone steal from a synagogue?"FBI officials from New Jersey, who are in charge of the probe, did not immediately comment, according to the Daily News.
