He's being investigated for money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and breach of public trust. But what is it specifically that the haredi Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger allegedly did wrong? This…
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger
Yeshiva World reports:
…Police are reporting that the chief rabbi [Yona Metzger] used his prominent position to ‘assist people’, with matters pertaining to the Chief Rabbinate, including some who sought assistance in obtaining semicha. The rabbi asked for donations to these tzedaka organizations in return for his assistance. Police allege that he took 50% of these tzedaka funds, which he did not report to tax authorities. The nonprofits issued legitimate receipts for the donations. According to police involved in the case, the rabbi earned “hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past year by assisting people.”
The rabbi is alleged to have taken sizable sums of money and he purchased apartments in the names of family members to launder the income. In addition to placing the rabbi under house arrest and prohibiting him from having any contact with other suspects in the case, authorities have frozen Rabbi Metzger’s bank accounts and placed a lien on a number of apartments owned by Rabbi Metzger and relatives. Authorities report that when the rav was sent to house arrest on Thursday, 12 Tammuz 5773 [i.e., June 20, 2013], he was also informed he may not go to his office for fifteen days, not five as was reported earlier.
The daily Yediot Achronot quotes one officer involved in the case saying “The rabbi is in trouble and it appears at the end of the investigation he will be hit with a criminal indictment.…