‘Donations’ to Group Criminal Acts
A Los Angeles man who made donations to several charitable organizations associated with a New York-based orthodox Jewish group — donations that were in fact refunded in many cases — has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges.
In the plea agreement, Uri Mandelbaum, 70, also agreed to pay back taxes totaling more than $1.5 million.
The plea agreement with Mandelbaum is the first one involving a “donor” to charitable organizations associated with Spinka, which is at the center of a scheme alleged in a related criminal case. Spinka is a religious group within Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn, New York. The Grand Rabbi of Spinka, his assistant, several other defendants and five Spinka charities were indicted last year on a host of federal charges related to a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud U.S. government agencies by laundering money through an Israeli bank.
Mandelbaum admitted he evaded the payment of $296,731 in federal income taxes for the years 2005 and 2006, the two years that are the subject of the criminal charges. During 2005 and 2006, Mandelbaum made $892,483 in contributions to Spinka organizations, and then 95 percent of the contributions were returned to Mandelbaum. However, Mandelbaum admits that he claimed the entire $892,483 as charitable contributions on his federal income tax returns for the two years.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
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Tags: tax evasion
