Satamr Hasidic leader Yitzchok Sofer, who worked raising funds for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign three years ago, has been arrested for defrauding the food stamp program for $30, 516.
Sofer is associated with the Stamar organizations Central United Talmudical Academy (CUTA), which operates religious schools in Brooklyn.
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According to a report in the New York Daily News, Sofer was charged in Brooklyn Federal Court last Thursday with unlawfully collecting Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program over the last three years. The complaint states that he collected that much in food stamps while he also took out a life insurance policy for himself in which he declared an income of $100, 000 per year and having $600, 000 in assets. This while Sofer declared to the government that he had only a $13, 000 a year income and no assets.
CUTA means – Central United Talmudical Academy, Inc.
Yitzchok Sofer was released on $25, 000 bond. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office has stated that he had no knowledge of Mr. Sofer’s actions. It said that the charges have nothing to do with his fundraising activities for the Mayor’s campaign in 2013.
CUTA spokesman Michael Tobman said, “It’s apparent this is a personal matter having nothing to do with the community, or its institutions. I am sure, when all the facts come to light, this arrest will be revealed as a federal overreach, and more appropriate for a civil proceeding.”
