‘FRAUD AND GREED’

New York’s Largest All-Boys Yeshiva to Pay $8 Million After Admitting to Fraud

The Williamsburg Yeshiva confessed to redirecting more than $3 million in government funds intended for school lunches toward parties for adults.

New York State’s largest all-boys Yeshiva was slapped with a $5 million fine on Monday, rounding off $3 million the school system had already paid out for admitting to widespread fraud. The Williamsburg-based Central United Talmudical Academy confessed to redirecting more than $3 million in government funds intended for things like school lunch and child care and instead utilized it for parties for adults, according to an indictment. The school also admitted to paying some employees with cash and coupons, developing an underground local economy so the employees could qualify for welfare, while others were paid for no-show performances, according to court documents. “Today’s admission makes clear there was a pervasive culture of fraud and greed in place at CUTA,” said FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll in a statement on Monday. “We expect schools to be places where students are taught how to do things properly. The leaders of CUTA went out of their way to do the opposite, creating multiple systems of fraud in order to cheat the government.”