Thanks to a Brooklyn lawyer, a scam in the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn has been exposed.

The victims were the Herzog family, the largest kosher winemakers in the world, according to the New York Daily News.

The family was distributing checks to people collecting donations for yeshivas and charities. The checks would be deposited in the U.S., and then the cash would be taken to Israel.

A senior law enforcement official reportedly told the Daily News that if an organization is not a legitimate charity or if other people are receiving any part of the donation, it’s illegal.

The Herzogs closed their account about a year about when they were tipped off that some of the solicitors may have been illegitimate. This resulted in bounced checks, which had those attempting to cash those checks asking questions.

The Herzog family hired a Satmar Hasid in Williamsburg, Elimelech Horowitz, to look into the issue. He was given cash to settle some of the donation claims.

On May 3, Horowitz claimed he was kidnapped then released by masked men demanding $35,000. Soon after, the Herzogs received a threatening phone message urging them to pay the $35,000.

A male voice in the recording reportedly said, “I know where you live; I know where you work; I know where your family lives.”

A private investigator hired by the family set them up with armed security and referred them to George Farkas, a lawyer with experience in the Orthodox Jewish community, including the case of Nechemya Weberman, convicted of sex abuse last year.

Farkas reportedly could immediately tell the abduction story was fraudulent.

The first indication was the caller mispronouncing “Shabbat,” the Jewish day of rest. The recipients of the Herzog money were Jewish, so it was unlikely they would mispronounce a Jewish holy day.

Farkas called Horowitz to his office, and told the Daily News that Horowitz confessed within 20 minutes: There had been no kidnapping, and Horowitz had been pocketing the money he’d been given to settle claims.

“He hired some schmuck on the corner to make the threats,” Farkas told the News.

The Herzog family gave a statement expressing sadness “that we were victimized for no other reason than our charitable generosity.”

But the Herzogs are reportedly not pressing charges because Horowitz promised to pay back the money he extorted.

Another source reportedly told the Daily News there may be other victims scammed by solicitors from Israel who hire drivers to use false sad stories to solicit money from wealthy Jewish families. The checks are subsequently cashed by a yeshiva or charity, the driver gets a cut and the rest is sent back to Israel, according to the Daily News report.

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Ruben Ubiles, the suspect of in the burning of 12 mezuzahs in Williamsburg, appears to have declared his innocence on Facebook.

In an update posted via cell phone, Ubiles wrote, mostly in all-caps, that he has no problem with Jews.

“I’ve worked with them for years, so why create an unnecessary problem for me when I’m on the verge of finally grow [sic] as a person,” the post reads.

However, he also wrote, “When Jews burn wood and garbage on ebery [sic] corner, its [sic] OK to pollute the surroundings,” an apparent complaint about the Jewish community in the neighborhood.

The Facebook post references the surveillance camera footage that the police originally released when requesting the public’s help in tracking down the subject.

“No matter where I go, if I see a camers [sic], its a habbit [sic] of mine to pose (as a joke),” he wrote. “But to burn doors~ not my thing.”

Ubiles insisted that police are judging him based on his criminal record, but pointed out that he’s never been arrested for arson.

“Im [sic] known for getting into fights,” he wrote. “I dont [sic] like fires. Been threw [sic] too many of those to attempt to threaten a community thats [sic] has not violated me.”

A law enforcement source said Ubiles has been arrested 40 times, most recently for assault, but also for stealing a car, trespassing, and possession of a firearm and marijuana, as well as other thefts, robberies and controlled substance possession charges.

He has been in jail 13 times, according to a law enforcement source.

Police also said he is a member of the Latin Kings gang, and joined while incarcerated. They said he is sometimes known by the nickname “Booboo.”

He reportedly has two orders of protection out against him, from two separate women, and lives in South Williamsburg, the same neighborhood where the mezuzahs were burned.

But in his Facebook post, Ubiles insisted he is reformed.

“Those that know me for working and going to a program, should no [sic] better to just second guess me due to history, and not for how much I changed for the better,” he wrote. “I gor ro [sic] my program and inform someone of all my where abouts [sic].”

A law enforcement source reported that cops used facial recognition on the original surveillance footage to identify Ubiles as the suspect in the burning of the mezuzahs. Probable cause was established by witness reports and additional surveillance footage.

An elderly woman reportedly identified Ubiles for the police.

Cops said she told them she knew who burned the mezuzahs, and that the same person had done the same thing in her building a year ago.

She informed cops of his nickname (“Booboo”) and said she saw him yesterday.

She told the police that Ubiles spoke to her, saying “F— you Jews” and “I will rob you.”

She reportedly said he is volatile and “has a problem.”

In a lengthy Facebook post, Ubiles, the suspect in custody for the burning of 12 mezuzahs in Williamsburg, appeared to declare his innocence. (Facebook)

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The NYPD is investigating a possible hate crime in Williamsburg, according to a law enforcement source.

Approximately 11 mezuzahs appear to have been intentionally burned outside of Jewish doorways.

Mezuzahs are pieces of Torah parchment, usually contained in some sort of decorative casing. They are affixed to the entryways of Jewish homes according to Jewish custom.

The burnt mezuzahs coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began Sunday at sundown.

The source did not know the extent of the damage. The residences are at the Taylor-Wythe Houses, a New York City Housing Authority complex in Brooklyn.

An NYPD spokesperson said the incident is being investigated as property damage at a residential location for now, and the determination of bias or hate crime will come at a later time.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio condemned the burning and called on the public to go to the police with any information on the incident.

“Nothing but hatred can explained why someone would burn mezuzahs on Yom Hashoah, the day we remember the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust,” De Blasio said. “This is a sickening act of prejudice that strikes at the very core of who we are as a city.”

“Make no mistake: we will find those responsible,” he added.

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Counselors and community members are reporting a rise in divorce in the Orthodox Jewish community, and some say Facebook is to blame.

But Baruch Herzfeld, a community liason between the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox communities in Brooklyn, says “the technology is the excuse.”

“There is unhappiness, and Facebook presents options,” Herzfeld explained.

Hindie Klein, Director of Clinical Projects for Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, also felt that social media can be “very seductive.”

Klein said that seeing what other people have and how they live can lead to comparisons that can and do contribute to divorce.

“Before, someone would get divorced and leave the community,” Herzfeld elaborated. “Now even if they move, you see them [on Facebook] and they take off their wig and they go to Miami and they are drinking a cocktail, and you ask yourself, why should I be in prison? Let me get out.”

Lani Santo works at Footsteps, an organization that helps men and women who want to leave the ultra-Orthodox community. Santo reported seeing an increase in the number of people leaving ultra-Orthodox communities and said “technology is a piece of that.”

“It used to be that they had to go to the library, sneak out and physically get to a place where they can find more information — and now you have technology at your fingertips, even in the Orthodox community,” Santo said.

She said the internet allows restless, questioning young people in the ultra-Orthodox community to see “groups of people that have lived successful lives outside of the community.”

How the community deals with divorce

Herzfeld brought up the fact that ultra-Orthodox Jewish women and men marry very young, and often don’t know each other very well beforehand, which Santo says contributes to why a lot of the women she works with choose to divorce and even leave the community entirely.

Fraidy Reiss is one of those women — on a few levels, in fact: Reiss is divorced and left her ultra-Orthodox community, but is also the daughter of divorced Orthodox Jewish parents, a rare experience for her generation.

“I was the only one I knew whose parents were divorced,” Reiss said. “It was like I had two heads because my parents were divorced, I was considered really just a freak.”

Reiss said she thinks it’s getting easier simply because it’s becoming more common.

“It’s hard to consider a certain group of people freaks when the group gets bigger and bigger,” she pointed out.

But Santo said it’s often still a struggle, and can be a scary one at that.

“The entire community will pool their resources to make sure whoever’s leaving doesn’t get custody of the children, whether it’s a man or a woman,” Santo said. “Things get incredibly ugly, it’s not a fair game that’s being played.”

Reiss knew about that first-hand: she said that when she attempted to divorce her husband and get custody of her two daughters, one rabbi threatened to kidnap her children, and another threatened to testify in court that she was an unfit mother.

It wasn’t only rabbis, however: her friends wanted to testify against her as well.

She doesn’t hold it against them. Having grown up in the community, she understands what motivates them.

“There’s a belief in that community that if you’re not religious, you’re unstable and not a fit mother,” Reiss explained. “They really believe the kids are not going to have a good life.”
Traditional Jewish divorces

There are actually laws that exist in traditional Jewish law that were “constructed for divorces to be able to happen,” noted Santo.

“In the Jewish community, divorce has never been as taboo as in, say, the Catholic community,” she added.

However, Reiss explained that under Jewish law, a woman can only request a divorce. Her husband has to grant it with a document called a ‘get.’

“What happens is that men realize this power that they have over their wives,” Reiss said, adding that men will often withhold the get while demanding money, property, custody, or freedom from alimony in exchange.

While the woman is without a get, she is an ‘agunah,’ Reiss explained, which means “chained woman,” and can’t remarry. Women face the possibility of being alone for the rest of their lives, Reiss said.

Reiss’ mother waited seven years for her get.

After Reiss’ own divorce, she refused to accept the get from her husband. The get is not valid unless it is either signed by the wife or by 100 rabbis, Reiss said.

She received several calls from rabbis for a few months, until they seemingly decided it was easier to round up 100 rabbis than deal with this stubborn woman.

Reiss’ mother stayed in the community despite her divorce; Reiss broke away. They’re now estranged, but Reiss said she wished she could have told her mother about her act of ‘get’ rebellion.

“Even though I’m sure she would complain to her friends and say how terrible I was being, I think some small part of her would have said, ‘yes, you go, Fraidy,’” Reiss said.

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