A New York City court sentenced a Jewish rabbi to up to three years in prison Tuesday for stealing $5 million dedicated for disabled preschoolers.
State comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced the sentencing of Rabbi Samuel Hiller for stealing the funds from Island Child Development Center between 2005 and 2012, according to the Associated Press. Hiller pleaded guilty along with three co-defendants — Ira Kurman, Roy Hoffman and Daniel Laniado — in April to cumulatively stealing $12.4 million dollars from the institution, according to the New York Post.
“Stealing from the public is bad enough, but exploiting small children to pay your plumber and support your for-profit camps, is reprehensible,” DiNapoli said after Hiller’s guilty plea.
Hiller will forfeit $1 million in seized assets, and must surrender another $1 million by the day of his sentencing. Brown told the New York Post that Hiller will also pay an additional $3 million in the future. Hiller used $30,000 of the stolen funds to renovate the plumbing in his house, and used the rest to fund several for-profit camps. The co-defendants gave some of the funds they stole to relatives, and used them to fund businesses, a wedding, home repairs and buy jewelry.
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