Alleviating Poverty by Defrauding the Government?

Unrelated photo of a 'perp walk'  for illustrative purposes only

Desperate times call for desperate measures. That may have been their thinking, wrong though they were in this case.

I don’t know much about the 12 Charedim arrested for ‘mega-fraud’ in Bet Shemesh yesterday. But I do know about the impoverished conditions of the world in which they live. This was recently demonstrated by the incredible statistic that 66% of Charedi children in Israel live below the poverty line. From Yeshiva World News (YWN): 

The ringleader of the scheme is suspected of opening a fictitious Yeshiva and registering 150 students who “studied” there, in order to receive stipends and scholarship funds from the Ministry of Education for those students.

The total sum of the money suspected of being defrauded is more than 1,000,000 NIS. During a routine checkup conducted by the Ministry on the “Yeshiva” they found only rubble at the address where the Yeshiva was supposed to be standing.

The Ministry officials immediately filed a complaint with the police and undercover detectives were sent to discover what the reality of the situation was. The investigators discovered that not only did the Yeshiva not exist, but that all 150 of the supposed students whose names were on the list submitted to the Ministry, were not studying in any known institute of higher education. Some of them were dropouts, while others were serving in the IDF.

The accusations being leveled at the accused include: Obtaining defrauded money under aggravated circumstances, conspiracy to thievery, and money laundering. 

First, I want to recognize YWN for bringing this to the attention of their readers. In the past the Charedi media used to hide things like this because it made the Charedi world look bad. They used to think that publicizing misdeeds by Charedi individuals was a Chilul HaShem. What they didn’t realize is that covering it up was the real Chilul HaShem. I guess they realize it now.

I want to make clear that there is no reason to believe that such fraud is widespread. I believe that most Charedim are scrupulously honest.  And would never commit a fraud like this.  Perhaps there are some  that rationalize the need to hide or under report income. But I believe even this low level of fraud is rare. And a massive large scale fraud like this is even rarer. But rare does not mean nonexistent. As this once again shows it. It exists. And when it happens it makes big news.  

There have been many stories like this unfortunately over the years. Some of which involved prominent rabbis involved in all kinds of tax fraud and money laundering schemes. The ones that come to mind happened right here in America  involving international schemes with participants in Israel. I am not going to rehash any of these sad stories. Those who have been reading this blog over the years will remember at least some of them.

My guess is that the individuals who devised and tried to carry out this scheme did not necessarily do so to enrich themselves. (Although that’s certainly possible.)  I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were just  trying to get more money from their government in order to help alleviate some of the more severe cases of poverty in their world.

That is of course no excuse.  They tried to steal over a million NIS  from the government. If they are found to be guilty at trial they should pay the price the Israeli justice system demands of them. If I am right, and this was the reason, it underscores the desperate financial straits of the Charedi world in Israel. It also underscores the need to do something about it. Something other than defrauding the government out of millions! Something along the lines of teaching Charedim early in their education the value of working for a living.  And that there is no shame in choosing work over Kollel.

Again - just to be clear, I am not suggesting giving up learning Torah even for the non elite. Even full time for a short while. What I am suggesting (as I have umpteen times) is that they be given the tools to eventually enable them to get training for careers that are best suited for them as individuals. So that after a year or two in Kollel and a short stint serving their country they will be able to quickly get the training they need to get good paying jobs.

(What about the army? True that is an obstacle in the minds of many Charedi leaders. But it shouldn’t be. Especially since that obligation can be fulfilled in a variety of ways that do not contradict their beliefs and practices. Such as Nachal Charedi; or is some sort of alternative government service that would be in keeping with their Hashkafos. Until such time Israel eliminates the draft (if it ever does), they will have to do what every other Israeli does. But they can do it without violating their principles.)

As I have also said, the reality is that this will likely never happen. But I cannot understand why the current paradigm which is conducive to generating fraudulent schemes in order to alleviate poverty is a better idea.

And then there is this: 

Charedi protesters attempted to interfere with a police arrest of one of the twelve suspects that were arrested in Beit Shemesh yesterday under the suspicion of defrauding government monies. The suspicion is that a Charedi non-profit organization was used by the individuals to defraud the money.

Residents of the city were seen in a post that was published by the Walla News site shoving police officers and throwing eggs at them as they attempted to arrest one of the suspects outside his home. The police responded by spraying the protesters with pepper spray. 

This is yet another problem that Charedi leaders seem to ignore. The idea that arresting someone for suspected fraud should causes a violent response in protest of it. What will it take for Charedi leaders to lay down the law and forbid such protests, and assign serious consequences to those participating in it? Like expulsion from the community!  Because violently protesting the arrest of someone suspected of fraud is a Chilul HaShem, too. Almost as much of a Chilul HaShem as a Charedi non-profit participating in that fraud.

I have no clue whether these protesters are from the mainstream of from the more radical extreme elements of Charedim in Bet Shemesh. I assume the latter. But whichever the case, they ought to be treated accordingly. So that the next time any of them do this, they might think twice before attempting it.