The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on Monday that Central United Talmudic Academy, a yeshiva in Brooklyn, has entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement under which it has agreed to pay $5 million in penalties for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This is in addition to $3 million in restitution it has already paid. The Announcement describes "several overlapping frauds" to which CUTA has admitted, saying in part:
According to admissions in the statement of facts and other public documents, between 2014 and 2016, CUTA received more than $3.2 million in reimbursement for a meal program that purported to feed students of the yeshiva. The program was almost entirely fictitious. Rather than feed its children, the School diverted the funding, including to subsidize parties for adults. To commit the crime, the School fabricated records and made dozens of sworn misrepresentations to government agencies.
During the investigation into the fictitious meal program, the investigative team uncovered evidence of other fraudulent conduct by the School and its employees. In addition to the program fraud noted above, this included various payroll practices that enabled the School’s employees to commit benefit and tax fraud....
By underrepresenting its employees’ income, CUTA enabled its employees to obtain various public benefits—including health care and childcare—that would not have been available if the employees honestly reported their income.
Officials of the school have previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced for fraud. The Announcement was also posted in Yiddish on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gothamist reports on the agreement.
