Rabbi Sentenced In Money Laundering Case

As previously reported, in June 2010 Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, former head of a prominent synagogue in Deal, New Jersey, plead guilty in a New Jersey federal district court to charges of using religious charities he controlled to launder money. Ben Haim was one of five rabbis from the Syrian Jewish community and 39 others arrested last year in a high profile federal investigation of public corruption and money laundering.  On Wednesday, according to the Asbury Park Press and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the federal court handed down its sentence for Ben Haim-- 5 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. He has already forfeited over $700,000 in funds to the government. Another defendant, Akiva Aryeh Weiss, who plead guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business from a location in Brooklyn, was sentenced to five years probation with the special condition that he reside in a mental health facility.