Rabbi's refusal to testify could send him back to jail

[bemildred]

Two years ago, Rabbi Moshe Zigelman went to prison rather than testify against fellow Jews in a federal tax-evasion case and receive a lesser punishment.

Now, federal prosecutors are threatening him with a return to jail unless the 64-year-old devout Hasid agrees to testify before a grand jury regarding the federal government's ongoing probe of tax evasion in his Orthodox Jewish sect. On Wednesday, they will ask a judge to order him to testify or be found in contempt.

His attorney says Zigelman, a teacher of scripture and son of Holocaust survivors, will again refuse, citing his religious principles.

---

Zigelman was arrested in 2007 for his part in a decade-long enterprise through which wealthy donors made tens of millions of dollars in contributions to Spinka, a Brooklyn-based Hasidic sect, only to have most of the money refunded through an underground money-transfer network. The donors received large tax breaks on the bogus amounts; Spinka and related charities profited through the small portion of the sums they kept.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rabbi-testimony-20110907,0,3564312.story

[aikoaiko]

1. religious principles? What a schmuck.

[bemildred]

2. Hey, you have to say something. nt

[aranthus]

3. Thou shalt not carry the Lord's name in vain.

That is the literal translation of the Commandment. It's not about prohibiting swearing. It means do not do evil in the name of God. The religous rule this man cites was about not informing to antisemitic and tyranical governments. It shouldn't apply to this, and I wager most Jews know that. This is misuse and abuse of religion. It didn't seem to contradict his religious principles to take part in the fraud. And now he's using a strained and out of context reading of old rules to cover up for his co-conspirators? Give this guy an all expenses long term vacation at the Greybar Hilton.

[shira]

4. +1 n/t

[King_David]

5. This forum should just merge with the Jewish forum,

There is no discernible difference.