The founder of a southern California synagogue that was attacked last year in what prosecutors have called a deadly hate crime pleaded guilty Tuesday to a multi-million dollar tax fraud plan, authorities said.
Rabbi Ysiroel Goldstein, 58, a former director and founder of Chabad of Poway, admitted to secretly reimbursing millions of contributions to the synagogue and providing donors with false receipts, federal prosecutors in San Diego said in a statement.
Prosecutors said at least 20 donors claimed massive tax deductions, while Goldstein kept 10 percent of the contribution and pocketed more than $ 500,000, prosecutors said. Tax losses to the Internal Revenue Service were estimated at more than $ 1.5 million in eight years.
Prosecutors said Goldstein was being investigated for the plan on April 27, 2019, when authorities say 19-year-old John T. Earnest opened fire on Chabad, killing a longtime worshiper and injuring three, including Goldstein, who lost his right index finger. .
After the shooting, Goldstein offered a heartbreaking account of the attack and a powerful message to his congregation: “We are a Jewish nation that will stand firm. We will not let anything or anyone take us down. Terrorism like this will not bring us down. ”
In a statement on Tuesday, Chabad said “that was Rabbi Goldstein that the world came to know.”
“However, since then we have learned that Rabbi Goldstein violated the law, contradicted what our synagogue represents, and violated the same moral and ethical rules of Torah that he taught,” the statement said.
After learning of the allegations against Goldstein last year, Chabad launched an internal review and removed him from his duties. He was also fired by the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters as a representative of the movement, according to the statement.
“How do we reconcile this heartbreaking reality with the good Rabbi Goldstein accomplished during his decades of service? How do we separate their unethical and illegal behavior from their many positive contributions to our community? We will surely struggle with these questions for a long time to come, ”the statement said.
Goldstein’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Goldstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit wire fraud, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, prosecutors said.
Five of Goldstein’s associates pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, filing a false tax return, and other crimes.
