Four Haredi Rabbis, One Of Their Sons Indicted In Divorce-Compelling Kidnap Conspiracy – All Face Possible Life In Prison

A federal grand jury today indicted four Orthodox Jewish Rabbis and one of their sons for allegedly conspiring to kidnap and force Jewish men to grant their wives religious divorces, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Above: Rabbi Mendel Epstein

Four Orthodox Jewish Rabbis, One Of Their Sons Indicted In Divorce-Compelling Kidnap Conspiracy


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    
May 22, 2014


TRENTON, N.J. B A federal grand jury today indicted four Orthodox Jewish Rabbis and one of their sons for allegedly conspiring to kidnap and force Jewish men to grant their wives religious divorces, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

The indictment charges all five men with kidnapping conspiracy and variously charges the defendants with specific instances of kidnapping and attempted kidnapping. Rabbis Mendel Epstein, Martin Wolmark, Jay Goldstein, a/k/a “Yaakov” and Binyamin Stimler had previously been charged, along with others, with conspiracy to commit kidnapping in a complaint unsealed Oct.10, 2013. Four of the others charged, including Jay Goldstein’s sons, Avrohom Goldstein, 34, and Moshe Goldstein, 31, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., have since pleaded guilty to extortion charges in connection with the case. The rest of the charges are pending.

David Epstein was previously charged with a 2009 kidnapping to compel a religious divorce, or get, in a complaint filed on May 15, 2014.

The defendants and charges are outlined in the following chart. Each count also carries a maximum $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.…

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The FBI began an undercover operation after becoming aware of incidents in which David Epstein and Jay Goldstein allegedly were involved in the kidnapping and assaulting of Orthodox Jewish men in order to compel them to grant religious divorces.

During the investigation, Mendel Epstein and Wolmark were recorded discussing plans to kidnap and torture victims. In an in-person meeting with undercover agents at his home on Aug. 14, 2013, Mendel Epstein laid out the plans for a particular target, including trapping him in a van and assaulting him with an electric cattle prod.

At that meeting, Mendel Epstein stated that the kidnapping would cost $10,000 to pay for the rabbinical court, or beth din, to approve the kidnapping and use of violence and an additional $50,000 to $60,000 to pay for the “tough guys” who would conduct the beating of the husband. One of the undercover agents  made a payment of approximately $10,000 to Mendel Epstein for the purpose of engaging his organization.

Law enforcement tracked subsequent planning phone calls discussing tactics and payment, as well as a trip by Mendel Epstein and Jay Goldstein to inspect the warehouse in Middlesex, N.J., where they planned to hold the victim. Undercover agents also recorded the convening of a beth din at Wolmark’s Monsey office and a subsequent meeting at Mendel Epstein’s home.

On Oct. 9, 2013, Goldstein, Stimler traveled with others from New York to the warehouse to execute the kidnapping.

The team arrived at the warehouse in two dark minivans shortly after 8:00 p.m. Some put on masks and entered the warehouse office with one of the undercover agents, while others walked around the outside of the warehouse with flashlights. Members of the team went in and out of the office wearing disguises, including ski masks, Halloween masks and bandanas. They discussed the plan. Among them, they carried rope, surgical blades, a screwdriver, plastic bags, and items used to ceremonially record a get.

Law enforcement moved into the  office and arrested the eight members of the team, including Goldstein and Stimler.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Joseph Gribko and Sarah Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

The pending charges and allegations against related defendants are merely accusations and they are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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The chart referenced above. Please click to enlarge:

Related:

All Rabbi Mendel Epstein Posts.

Comments

[David]

Somehow I don't think the "tough guys" would have charged $50-60,000 for their "services". Someone was making quite a profit from that.

As I keep saying, the frumma can find Halachic loopholes for everything else, why not agunot?

[Miami rocks]

Why isn't chaim rubin from lakewood mentioned ??
Are they building another case on him for fraudulent life insurance policies and money laundering? ??

[D]

miami rocks
rubin for all you seem to know miami is done with those cases and is not into moneey laundering

his case is the weakest of all the get cases
and many people would not be suprised if his case is dropped . if anything he was involved in one case and may nor have even been involved

epstein however was involved in many cases and womark who set it all up and the others all were involved with many cases

[shiksah]

when is kaufman from bais horah at chaim flohr bais din getting pick up?

[confused]

How is this different than what happened six months ago?

[mb]

Confused - it went to a grand jury + they are talking life in prison -it doesn't look good , I don't know this Epstein guy but he seems like the typical yeshiveshe schmuck like all the Rabbi's I had in yeshiva they think they are gods gift to the world making every one around them feel inferior

[D]

heres all you need to know

womark and epstein looking at 15 years each if they plead guilty they already turned down a ten year deal
womark has already hired 4 firms and ben (can i cut a deal for you because i am not the best lawyer for trial but great at cutting a deal ) over i million spent but if he goes to a trial he will get twenty years

as for the motives ------ understand one thing about the gvmt case never once did wolmark or epstein offer to call the husband in the case with the fbi woman agent that tells you their motives were not pure but criminal

[Robert J. Barron, Attorney-at-Law]

Ouch. For someone in their sixties...a sentence of 20 years...that, in an of itself can is/often is a life sentence.

And for something like kidnapping..or anything else where force or the threat of force is employed...they aren't going to Otisville, where they can join the Minyan there...LOL.

Kidnapping gets you a place like Lewisburg. Not fun.

Now, if someone is elderly and in poor health, maybe they can get one of the Federal Medical Centers...it's still time, but it's not hard time like in Lewisburg.

But for a younger man...20 years or life in someplace like Lewisburg...not fun. At all.