Moshe Rubashkin (born 1958) is an American businessman. An

ultra-Orthodox Jew Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

of the

Lubavitcher Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

movement, he is a former

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC), a private, nonprofit social service organization in

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New Yo ...

, New York, that receives $2 million per annum in state funding for community improvement projects. He was elected to a three-year term in January 2005, while on probation after having served 15 months in federal prison on

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

charges. In 2008, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison for illegal storage of hazardous waste at a

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

he formerly owned, and remained in office as head of CHJCC while serving time in federal prison.

Biography

Moshe Rubashkin is the second-oldest son of Rivka and

Aaron Rubashkin Abraham Aaron Rubashkin (, ; 1927 or 1928 – April 2, 2020) was a Russian-American businessman. He died during the COVID-19 pandemic due to complications brought on by COVID-19. Early life An adherent to Haredi Judaism of the Lubavitcher ha ...

, a Lubavitcher hasidic butcher from Brooklyn, New York, born in Nevel, Russia.

Indictments and convictions

Assault and riot

In 1983, Rubashkin was arrested and indicted on felony assault and riot charges. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to three years probation and 300 hours of community service.

Cherry Hill Textiles

In 1995, Rubashkin and his father, Aaron Rubashkin, as owners of Cherry Hill Textiles Mill in Brooklyn, New York, were found guilty by the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

of failing to pay union dues deducted from workers' wages, for six months in 1993 through the date of the judgement. They were ordered to make restitution with interest.

Montex Textiles

Rubashkin owned and operated Montex Textiles, a textile dyeing, bleaching and weaving business in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, bought by the

Rubashkin family The Rubashkin family () is a family of American Hasidic Jews of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Brooklyn, New York, headed by Aaron Rubashkin. Members of the family were or are active in various family businesses, most of them in the family's ma ...

in 1989 until it was closed in 2001.

Bank fraud

A government investigation found that between March 25, 1999, and March 30, 1999, Rubashkin attempted to deposit three checks totalling $325,000 payable to Montex drawn from an account of an entity named First Choice Associates in Brooklyn, that he knew did not have the funds to cover the checks. He pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud under US CODE 18 § 1344, "execution of a scheme to defraud a financial institution" on July 31, 2002. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, five years probation, and fined $233,000. He appealed the length of the sentence without success. He served his time at Fort Dix Federal Prison in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Prior to this, Rubashkin was involved in a separate punishable offense. In his capacity as president of Montex, he had failed to secure workers' compensation insurance for the company's employees, required by Pennsylvania law. On May 4, 2001, he was placed in an

Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition (ARD) Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) is a pretrial intervention program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States for non-violent offenders with no prior or limited record. The primary purpose of the program is the rehabilitation ...

program for a period of 18 months and ordered to pay $968 in fines, costs, and restitution.

Illegal storage of hazardous waste

The textile mill closed in 2001, but numerous containers of hazardous waste were stored without the necessary environmental permits on the premises. In 2002, the mill was sold to a New York corporation called Skyline Industries, Inc. According to the prosecution, the Rubashkin family had maintained an interest in the plant following its sale to Skyline Industries and during subsequent complex financial transactions, including a $4 million mortgage foreclosure awarded to a company called Supreme Realty of Brooklyn. In 2005, an order by the city was issued for the property to be sold at a sheriff's auction because of unpaid school and county property taxes. Shortly before the planned sale, a fire broke out at the plant; that was followed by three more fires — one of which was attributed to arson. The

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(EPA) obtained a court order to enter the site. They found major fire hazards, including explosive aluminium powder and acids. The EPA initiated a clean-up of the property in October 2005, including disposal of numerous containers of hazardous wastes and substances. In November 2007, Rubashkin and his son, Sholom Rubashkin, formerly in charge of running the family's real estate branch under the alias Sam Sternburg, were arrested and indicted on charges of illegal storage of hazardous waste without a permit and one count of making a materially false statement. Moshe Rubashkin pleaded guilty in February 2008. In November 2008, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay $450,000 (~$ in ) in fines. The monies will be distributed between the EPA and the city of Allentown. He served his time at Otisville Federal Prison, from where he was released on April 12, 2010. His son, Sholom, pleaded guilty to making a materially false statement to the EPA. In March 2009, he was sentenced to four months in prison and three years supervised release.

As head of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council

In 2005, Rubashkin was elected with 70% of the votes as chairman of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC), described as "a funded social service organization whose leadership doubles as the neighborhood's rabbinical council". His time in office was controversial. When elected, he was expected to help bridge divisiveness in the Lubavitcher community, and he was supposed not to be directly involved in the CHJCC's finances due to his conviction on felony charges, but he was soon accused by fellow members of the Council of having misdirected funds for personal gain. Rubashkin was also reported to have physically attacked people who did not agree with him. At the end of his three-year term in January 2008, he successfully prevented elections taking place until May of the following year. When he was convicted a second time on felony charges, "no one seemed to mind ... And the strange thing is, even though he went to jail in November (2008), he remained president of the council until elections were held in May (2009). In May, (his) ticket lost the election. And then, something strange happened: ... Moshe′s family and supporters waged a court battle to retain control of the council."

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubashkin, Moshe 1958 births Living people American manufacturing businesspeople American Orthodox Jews American people convicted of fraud American people convicted of tax crimes American people of Russian-Jewish descent American textile industry businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City Chabad-Lubavitch (Hasidic dynasty) People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Moshe Moses ( el, Μωϋσῆς),from Latin and Greek Moishe ( yi, משה),from Yiddish Moshe ( he, מֹשֶׁה),from Modern Hebrew or Movses (Armenian: Մովսես) from Armenian is a male given name, after the biblical figure Moses. According to th ...

American businesspeople convicted of crimes