Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tropper - update

Troppenstein's monster cites Failed Messiah

The following charlatans sent a "discharge" letter to Yeshiva Kol Yaakov over a month ago proclaiming themselves as the "roshei yeshiva & mashgichim" and dismissing the current administration:

Leib Tropper
Chaim Weiss
Mendel Ashkanazy
Nachman Kramer (Bais Yaakov Monsey)
Eliyahu Berney (son of Nosson Berney)

Then 2 weeks ago, Tropper submitted a notarized affirmation to the the court that while he was oyver on some little "indiscretion", he remains the "rosh yeshiva" and the people running the yeshiva, specifically Moishe Raice, are "immoral".

Tropper claims to the court that R' Moishe Green, R' Aron Schechter & R' Elya Ber Wachtfogel agree with him on this.

Kol Yaakov's lawyer filed a counter-affirmation as follows:

Tropper had once invested $1 million of the yeshiva's money with Nosson Berney's investment firm. They are now trying to bankrupt the yeshiva by giving much of the money away to Tropper's friends in the Rabbonus with the remainder being pocketed by Tropper. Nachman Kramer padlocked the yeshiva office so that no one can get all the documents that prove this.

R' Reuvein Feinstein issued a written psak to the Monsey beis din that Tropper cannot take back his resignation and that there is no issur arkaos to stop him in court. (Does this mean there is no more money being doled out by Tom Kaplan?)

Meanwhile, Berney sent the following checks out to the rabbonim, as submitted as evidence to the court:
Rabbi Zaks, Chofetz Chaim Monsey $75k R' Shmuel Gorelick, Kollel Beer Mordechai Monsey $50k
Rabbi Malick, Ohr Moshe Monsey $40k
Keren Ezra, 11 Gwen Lane Monsey $25kRabbi Holzcer, Ohel Avrohom Monsey $25k
R' Amram Rosenberg, Chasidim Tovim Monsey $25k
Chasdei Avos, 8 Elyon Rd Monsey $25k
Mesila Baarav, Yerucham Israel $15k
R' Moshe Mosebacher, 5 Carlton Lane Monsey $15k
R' Michel Yuda Lefkowitz, Ponvizh $5k
R' Doniel Alter, Gur $5k
R' Shaul Kanievsky $3.5k
R' Eliyahu Levin $2.5k
R' Chaim Kanievsky, Bnei Brak $2k
R' Moshe Solomon $2k
R' Zalman Dovid Zuckerman $2k
R' Dovid Rotenberg, Yershalayim $2k
R' Yaakov Kupshitz, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Yosef Kupshitz, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Efraim Kupshitz, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Tzvi Kupshitz, Yerushalayim $2k
R' Nechemia Waldenberger, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Efraim Frank, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Pesachya Sternberg, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Yoel Turczin, Beit Shemesh $2k
Rav Sokolover, Beit Shemesh $2k
R' Nosson Kupshitz $1.8k
R' Moishe Mordche Schlesinger $1.8k
R' Yitzchok Scheiner, Kaminetz $1.8k
R' Shmuel Deutsch, Kol Torah $1.8k
R' Y. Levy $1.8k
R' Nechemia Zuckerman $1.5k
R' Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz $1.5k
R' Moshe Carlebach $1.5k
R' Yomtov Stern $1.5k
R' Nochum Schiller $1.2k
R' Moshe Sumter $1.2k
R' Yitzchok Kalmanowitz $1k
R' Osher Kalmanowitz, Mir $1k
R' Yehuda Kravetz $1k
R' Chaim Zeibald $1k
R' Eliyahu Rimmer $1k
R' Sar Shalom Marzel $1k
Rav Schmeltzer (Telz / Monsey / Miami?) $1k
R' Yitzchok Kossovsky $1k
Rav Eltovitzky $1k
R' Netz Elzas $1k
R' Aryeh Kanievsky $1k
R' Mordechai Carlebach $1k
R' Refoel Shapiro, Beit Shemesh $1k
R' Avrohom Rivlin, Beit Shemesh $1k
R' Chaim Jacobowitz, Beit Shemesh $1k
R' Eliyahu Mittelman, Beit Shemesh $1k
R' Chaim Solomon $800
R' Refoel Solomon $800
R' Moshe Battelman $800
Rav Klein $600
R' Avrohom Bernstein $600

20 comments:

  1. You know, that's quite a frighteningly long list. For the Chareidi community, is this the financial equivalent of what just happened to the Polish government?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is not credible. The court couldn;t care less of the opinions of Rabbis Green, Schechter, Wachtofogel, etc. There would be no legal benefit to include their support in court filings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The original court documents are on Failed messiah
    http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2010/04/rabbi-leib-tropper-money-laundering-234.html#more

    The documents apparently were provided by Tropper's former talmid HaNavon.

    Notice rav Chaim Kanievsky on the list

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  4. the Shtetl HustlerApril 15, 2010 at 2:55 AM

    Rabbi Doniel Alter gave the Motzoei Shabbos keynote address in the Aguda convention last year in East Brunswick.

    ReplyDelete
  5. the Shtetl HustlerApril 15, 2010 at 3:02 AM

    Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz is member of the Israeli Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah (The r' Elyashiv faction)

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is not money laundry, it is very simple deal (I saw it being done before) if Tropper loses control on the yeshiva, The recipients will keep the money and the new owners will not able to use this money. If Tropper regains Control on the yeshiva the recipients will return it (minus shechar iska or whatever) it is win-win for Tropper.

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  7. Rabbi Daas Torah thank you for your reporting

    after the Tropper incident happened
    i canceled my subscrption to the national enquirer and relied on you for all of my intake of shmutz and loshon hora I was very dissapointed the past few months in the bland reporting of Torah news and world events...ut azoiy your back in bussines, I can have my Shoddenfruend and feel better about myself.

    YASHER KOIACH

    ReplyDelete
  8. Garnel, I wish you were right.

    The Poles perceive what happened to them as a loss.

    Much of the Charedi community see the Tropper handouts as a gain. I can assure you there are many others who are most unhappy not making the list.

    'Memeg gavenven, si doo heterin fahr daym'.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is all from court documents that have been made public which is therefore not lashon harah according to many poskim. Besides, who said the rabbonim did anything wrong because Tropper mailed them checks? Tropper might have picked random rabbonim just to irk the hanhala of Kol Yaakov.

    If "Ozer dalim" cannot handle the truth why does he torture himself here?

    ReplyDelete
  10. aknowledge your sourcesApril 16, 2010 at 2:29 PM

    You forgot: Hat tip: failed messiah.

    Nowhere do you mention the source where you got it from.

    Was it not you who complained that other blogs cited things from your blog without proper aknowledgement?

    ReplyDelete
  11. so alot of you bloggers where correct when you said " follow the money trail" it boils down to money! I would think that a SHEM TOV is worth much more than all the $ one can get or a building structure called "Kol Yaacov".

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  12. Can someone please explain this in simple terms - I don't get it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. aknowledge your sources said...

    You forgot: Hat tip: failed messiah.

    Nowhere do you mention the source where you got it from.

    Was it not you who complained that other blogs cited things from your blog without proper aknowledgement?
    =====================
    Interesting point. However I did not get it from another blog. I published the item as it was sent to me by Troppenstein's Monster. I do not know that it was taken from another blog - as the information seems to be public.

    If in fact Troppenstein's Monster took if from another blog - then I will be glad to cite the source.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "R' Reuvein Feinstein issued a written psak to the Monsey beis din that Tropper cannot take back his resignation and that there is no issur arkaos to stop him in court."

    Reading the actual letter from R. Feinstein on failed messiah , it is not a psak,it is an answer to a Sheila regarding transfering funds from KY. At the end of this letter, he states that the funds in question must be dealt with in a proper forum of a "Beis Din".

    ReplyDelete
  15. aknowledge your sourcesApril 18, 2010 at 12:21 AM

    I sent you a commentary "not for publication" referring to the "failed messiah" website a few days before you published this.

    So it seems highly unlikely that you were not aware of the "failed messiah" source when you published this.

    It might be that both happened in parallel.

    Failed messiah has now published a new document, a summon to a beith din.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Troppenstein's monsterApril 18, 2010 at 4:58 AM

    If you are going to blame anyone for not acknowledging the source it should be me.

    I do not like to acknowledge Failed Shmarya because he is a kofer who tries to convince people to leave frumkeit. This is why I took the trouble of summarizing instead of just linking. I do not need to take achrayus for people being badly influenced by reading his evil diatribes that are maysis umaydiach.

    I do not trust anything he says on his own but thought it unlikely that he would forge court documents.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Mr. Eidensohn,
    now that you know that Troppenstein's monster took his information from the "failed messiah" blog, you should aknowledge your sources.

    Or does the "not stealing" policy only apply when others take your translations, but not when you take information from other blogs?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh please. How is it "stealing" when Failed [Messiah] did not do any original reporting?

    Anyone can go to the county clerk or sometimes these records are even on the internet, and photocopy them like the person who provided them to the other blog. Failed [Messiah] did not even obtain the court documents himself.

    And he is Rabbi Eidensohn to you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Recipients and PublicityMarch 13, 2011 at 9:19 AM

    It is mind-boggling to consider that well over a year after his supposed official forced resignations from the Kol Yaakov yeshiva and EJF, that Tropper is still involved with not just "rabbinic backers" but with a slew of shady financial backers who help/ed him with managing distribution of funds and "legal claims" to a "comeback" which he so desperately wants, while they find themselves in trouble with the law.

    The FM blog goes on to post the story as reported in another mainstream news source:

    "Update 1:55 am CST 3-3-11 – A source tells me Jeanette Berney's husband was a partner of uber crooks Marc Rich and Pincus Green [brother of Tropper rabbinic backer Rav Moshe Green of Monsey], who were pardoned by President Bill Clinton in a highly controversial move in the waning hours of his presidency. Berney's husband also had a company that was "defunded" by the SBA, my source says.

    Update 2:25 am CST 3-3-11 – here is an updated report from the Journal News:

    D.A.: Monsey woman, 80, and son stole $10M in Ponzi scheme

    James O'Rourke • Journal News

    SUFFERN — An 80-year-old Monsey woman and her son face a grand larceny charge, accused of stealing $10 million through a Ponzi scheme.

    Jeanette Berney of 25 Highview Road and Elliot Berney, 52, of 13 Langeries Drive, both of Monsey, are believed to have stolen the money from at least 75 victims, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said.

    Officials expect to identify additional victims as the criminal investigation continues.

    The mother and son are suspected of convincing customers — mainly neighbors, relatives and acquaintances made through those connections — to invest large sums of money into their company, NHI Metals Ltd., authorities said.

    The Berneys told customers that the money would be invested in European "bank notes" or "metal securities," Zugibe said.

    Authorities believe no such investments were made and that the Berneys simply kept most of the money, paying out only small monthly interest payments to certain investors to encourage additional investing.

    According to the state Department of State, Jeanette Berney was chief executive officer of NHI Metals Ltd. when it was begun in 1997. The company operated out of her Highview Road home until it was dissolved in 2003.

    Zugibe said the investment scheme might have begun as early as 2006, when the pair continued to solicit investors despite their company's inactive status with the state.

    The thefts are alleged to have continued up until Tuesday, when agents with the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested the Berneys.

    Jeanette Berney was charged with second-degree grand larceny, Zugibe said. Ramapo Town Justice Rhoda F. Schoenberger set bail at $500,000, but Jeanette Berney was released Tuesday after posting the $50,000 cash alternative and surrendering her passport.

    Elliot Berney also was charged with second-degree grand larceny, Zugibe said, and was taken to the county jail Tuesday night. Schoenberger set bail at $1 million.

    Officers at the county jail said Wednesday that Elliot Berney was released Tuesday night. Whether he posted bond or a cash alternative was unclear. Zugibe said Elliot Berney had also surrendered his passport. Elliot Berney is due in Town Court on March 15."

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  20. Does anyone know whatever happened to Elliot (Eli) Berney? I am quite worried about him, and there has been no news at all since his arrest on 3/3/2011.

    ReplyDelete

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