[1] Their indictment alleges that the five charities were used to launder money and to avoid payment of tax on taxable income by issuing fraudulent receipts for bogus charitable contributions, and charging fees for transfers of funds.
The rest is said to have been refunded to donors who allegedly claimed bogus donations on their income tax returns.
[8][9] In 2008, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles published a detailed report on the case alongside a number of related articles.
According to an affidavit cited in the article, the scam was instigated by the informant's father, a major LA Jewish philanthropist.
[11] The article also quoted experts on the Orthodox Jewish world, with Joel Cohen arguing that: Only with the open denouncement of wrongdoing from within the particular observant community can the community hope to demonstrate and protect the Torah's commitment to honesty in one's interpersonal dealings as being at least equal to, if not greater than, its commitment to technical observance of mitzvoth.