In an undercover video played at his federal kidnapping and extortion trial in Trenton, New Jersey Monday, Rabbi Mendel Epstein is seen telling undercover FBI agents that he works as a mediator in disputes with the Mafia.
Above: Rabbi Mendel Epstein
Alleged Prodfather Rabbi Mendel Epstein Claims To Be Mafia Mediator
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
In an undercover video played at his federal kidnapping and extortion trial in Trenton, New Jersey Monday, Rabbi Mendel Epstein is seen telling undercover FBI agents that he works as a mediator in disputes with the Mafia, the New York Daily News reported.
Mafia members would clean their guns in front of him to intimidate him, Epstein said, “but they’re not going to shoot me because I’m the golden goose.”
Epstein and three co-defendants, including his son and two other haredi rabbis, are charged in a kidnap-for-hire scheme meant to force recalcitrant husbands to issue their wives a Jewish bill of divorce known as a “get.”
Among Epstein’s tools to achieve that aim was allegedly an electric cattle prod, earning him the moniker “The Prodfather” from New York City tabloids.
Epstein has homes in Brooklyn, New York and Lakewood, New Jersey. He allegedly charged as much as $100,000 per kidnapping.
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