LA Kosher Meat Scandal Deepens

The USDA reportedly opens an investigation as a class action lawsuit against Doheny Glatt is launched by a member of the LA Jewish community. Doheny Glatt's owner also had a special relationship with Agriprocessors and Sholom Rubashkin.

Originally published at 10:23 pm CDT 4-2-2013

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has launched an investigation into Doheny Glatt and the kosher meat scandal roiling the LA Jewish community.

Doheny was caught on tape last week bringing unsupervised meat into its distributorship. It was also caught with hundreds of allegedly counterfeit Aaron's Best labels and a label printer.

Despite last week's revelations, a Chabad rabbi, Meshullam Weiss, rushed to give Doheny temporary kosher supervision after the Rabbinical Council of California pulled its supervision. Weiss was joined by his son Menachem, a former Chabad emissary. Neither had seen the videotape but both had no problem giving Doheny supervision.

Additionally, a class action lawsuit has been launched against Doheny Glatt by a local member of the Jewish community, Joshua Fard.

And then we have this interesting tidbit from the Sholom Rubashkin bank fraud trial in 2009:

Rubashkin customer denies tax scheme
BY GRANT SCHULTE • Des Moines Register

Sioux Falls, S.D. - A lawyer for former eastern Iowa meat plant executive Sholom Rubashkin suggested in court Monday that one of Rubashkin's largest customers shoveled money into the slaughterhouse to avoid taxes.

Michael Engelman, owner of the Doheny Kosher Meat Market in Los Angeles, denied any wrongdoing. But he acknowledged that he had offered "advance payments" for meat during his 20-year relationship with Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville.

The questions by defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown were an attempt to discredit Engelman as a witness in the government's financial fraud case against Rubashkin.

Engelman was one of six former customers of Agriprocessors, now Agri Star, who testified against Rubashkin on Monday.

Engelman told jurors that the most he ever owed the plant for meat at one time was $300,000 to $400,000. Prosecutors contend that Rubashkin falsified sales records to show that Doheny owed more than $1 million, in an attempt to defraud his plant's lender.

Brown later asked Engelman about the money sent to Agriprocessors.

"I understand what's going on here," Brown said, and accused Engelman of putting money in Agriprocessors "to avoid taxes."

"I filed my taxes every year," Engelman said.

Rubashkin, 49, faces 91 federal charges including mail, wire and bank fraud, money laundering and ignoring an order to pay livestock providers on time. He has pleaded not guilty.

Whether customers actually bought meat is a core issue of the federal bank fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that Rubashkin ordered an sales employee to draft invoices for transactions that never took place, which he then used to obtain cash advances from the plant's lender. Defense lawyers say the sales records were legitimate.

Brown's questioning took an unusual turn when a man in the public gallery started making a "timeout" gesture to Engelman.

Engelman asked for a break and left the room with the man, later identified as his accountant and lawyer, Yosef Y. Manela.

U.S. District Judge Linda Reade later asked Manela not to signal to his client while he testified. Minutes later, Manela mouthed the word "no" to his client and nodded while Brown continued his questions.…

Related Posts:

Video: Major LA Kosher Distributor Caught Selling Allegedly Treif Meat.

Chabad Rabbi Gives Kosher Supervision To Store Caught Smuggling And Selling Unapproved Meat.

Comments

[gopjew]

ya and if the little guy cuts corners with his kasharut observance .............

[dh]

Ditto on that, gop.

Does anyone know if Men. and Mesh. Weiss are related to Irwin and Leah Weiss?

[gopjew]

this story made drudge

[dh]

Yeah. They didn't mention Joshua Fard. I guess they'll get that from FM.

[Moshe Aron kestenbaum Williamsburg]

Kosher consumers are getting shafted , and who is coming to the aid of such a menuval? None other then a rabbi named Weiss , your not Weiss, (white) your a dirty filthy butcher of a butcher, rabbi Weiss your an ass, and not only did you dirty yourself now, you also dirtied every honest rabbi by your stupid action, for what ? For a couple of dollars? Rabbi Weiss your selling your ass for a few bucks? When rabbi Jacob josep back a hundred years ago in ny tried to stop Treif butchers selling as kosher he had the same problem with rabbis selling their soul for a few bucks and providing these Treif butchers cover, nothing has changed in a hundred years were still dealing with the same farshtinkene rabbonim who sell their asses and our whole yidishkiet for a bag of beans, a hundred years has passed since the rav roshe from NY wanted to establish order , and who knows how many Treif meat was sold to the kosher consumer all because these Un rabbis, these frekles assholes rabbis are covering up the asses of Treif ganovim butchers, it's time that every rabbi should also need a certificate that he is kosher, I don't trust a rabbi anymore, it was in Monsey and now in LA , oH bashefer how much longer? Throw these rabbis outon the street , let them be homeless

[Eli, what me messiah?]

"It was also caught with hundreds of allegedly counterfeit Aaron's Best labels and a label printer."

Damn. I shoulda known that "Pesach kosher bacon cheeseburger on whole wheat buns" was too good to be true.

[James]

" interesting tidbid from the Sholom Rubashkin bank fraud trial in 2009:"

Indeed, a very interesting "tidbid". Oh, what is a "tidbid"??

[dh]

A libtard twice removed.

[R. Wisler]

I understand that a rabbi out there (Benjamin Lisbon) runs a hechser that it totally reliable and doesn't cut corners in terms of supervision. I thought that was the gold standard in LA for people who actually care about that sort of crap.

[Bob Guthrie]

Ah, good old Agriprocessors. Getting caught with their d*icks in the pie again (no wonder it ain't Kosher). =)

[TheTruthAsItIs]

This doesn't surprise me any......

Doheny might as well us counterfeit Aaron Best labels.....anything coming out of Agri Star these days isn't kosher anyway.....lol

[agenda]

doheney was just sold to rechnitz

story developing......

[dh]

Ah, Rechnitz. Another nice guy: http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2012/12/homecare-firm-fined-15-million-by-state-for-defrauding-state-welfare-programs-has-campus-of-lakewood-345.html

[dh]

Yes, Ben, "Doney dud was wrong" and a lot of what Rechnitz dud was wrong too.

Someone needs to take a good look at the Jewish owned nursing homes in LA, especially the IRS. They love Medicare and Medicaid. When caught and forced to sell, the IRS doesn't track them down even if the former owners happen to be living right around the corner and singin' like a good chazan in Northridge.

[Chicago Sam]

Just curious: Menachem, a former Chabad emissary? When and why did he leave? I have not heard of many Chabdnik sheluchim leaving their shilichut.

[Diane Polonsky]

Rabbi Avroham Union of the Los Angeles Rabbinical Council Investigates a member of his own Family Commission Division at the RCC, as a Rabbi on his board has gotten caught with emails he wrote calling Jewish women "evil" rasha's as "understandable"! Let's hope it's not another Doheny Meats Investigation

http://ballardofphilipfishelcohen.blogspot.com/2014/08/rabbi-avroham-union-of-rabbinicical.html