I met Fishel Todd back in 2014 in a meeting at my office in Richardson, TX.  Rabbi Bloomenstiel was the one who introduced me to Fishel at this meeting.  I understand that Fishel Todd has help many Jewish men become Rabbi's as well as being a main endorser for putting Rabbi's into Chaplain positions within the military.  For me to say that he has not helped people would be totally inaccurate.

Having said that in late 2014 it began to come to light that Fishel had been arrested and charged with multiple felony counts of fraud.  He was convicted along with a team of other felon's who perpetrated these crimes on hundreds of innocent people and their families, possibly thousands.  I, myself, have not seen a "victim's list".  The money stolen, as a result of their criminal activity, was in the 10's of millions.  In fact Fishel beat the other felons to the US Attorney's office to turn states evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence.  He, certainly, didn't do it because it was the right thing to do!  If this were the case, he never would have stolen millions in the first place.  His reduced sentence still put him in prison for a number of years and is required to pay back $6,1 million to his victims at $500.00 per month.  This also proves that the current justice system in place in the USA is fraught with Judge's who don't know what justice is and why a Noahide Justice system is necessary.  All this Judge did was prove that "crime does pay".  But, you can imagine how much money was actually stolen by this team of felons.

I am sharing all this with you for a number of reasons starting with the fact that Rabbi Bloomenstiel and I had strongly considered disassociating ourselves from Fishel Todd and Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim.  Neither of us wanted our names associated with this criminal activity in any way.  Rabbi Bloomenstiel tried to find another Yeshiva to take up the project but no one wanted to get involved, for any number of reasons.  This, of course, was very disheartening for both of us.  So we took over the project from Pirchei Shoshanim and Noahide Nations paid them 20% of all course revenue to use the Pirchei Shoshanim name and have his son, Rabbi Yoseph Todd, sign the graduation certificates.  Noahide Nations also paid Rabbi Bloomenstiel tens of thousands of dollars to continue researching, authoring and teaching the lessons in the course. 

Because I had paid Rabbi Bloomenstiel 10's of thousands of dollars I assumed, wrongly, that Noahide Nations would be getting the copyrights to the course.  However, without being allowed to raise an objection, Rabbi Bloomenstiel told me that he had signed the copyrights over to Fishel.  I love Rabbi Bloomenstiel and considered him my Rabbi and friend, so you can imagine how hurt I was that we were not getting the copyrights.  Of course, in my mind this was a tragic mistake.

Rabbi Bloomenstiel has offered to re-write the course and give us the copyright but with him being a trial attorney now, I don't know that this is even possible.  I told him that we would help him write the course and send him the lessons for him to edit.  We hope this will happen but we don't know for sure.

Back to Fishel Todd's continued and unjustified assault on Noahide Nations.  Even after I found out that Rabbi Bloomenstiel had given Fishel the copyrights neither one of us thought that Fishel would do what he is doing now.  He has threatened me with law suits, sent me a cease & desist notice and is now attacking the Philippines group that has joined Noahide Nations.  I find the grudge Fishel Todd is harboring towards me to be very childish and foolish.  Ever since he got out of prison he has had it out for me.  I don't intimidate easily so I welcome the opportunity to counter sue him for 100% of the copyrights in a courtroom.  I and Noahide Nations were there from the very beginning, even before the first word of the course was put on paper.  I guess the phrase "no good deed goes unpunished" is true.

There is much more I can tell about Fishel but I am not going to go into anymore about him.  Below you can see everything I have discussed as to his criminal activity is absolutely real.  So, now he has aligned himself with the Ger Gang which of course will damage the Noahide Movement.  If these are the people you wish to learn Noahide Torah from then you're not learning Noahide Torah at all.  This shows the reason why Noahide Nations is no longer affiliated with Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim or Fishel Todd.

FBI

U.S. Attorney's Office

September 9, 2014

Attorney Admits Role in Investment and Real Estate Frauds

TRENTON, NJ—An Ocean County, New Jersey, attorney today admitted his role in a scheme that defrauded investors in connection with a Facebook IPO and several real estate deals, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Fred Todd, 61, of Lakewood, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of transacting in criminal proceeds.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Todd is an attorney with offices in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, California. His two co-defendants, Eliyahu Weinstein, 39, of Lakewood, and Aaron Glucksman, 41, of Brooklyn, New York, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the scheme.

Weinstein, already convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison in a separate Ponzi scheme, pleaded guilty on Sept. 3, 2014, to three counts of an indictment pending against him: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of committing wire fraud while on pretrial release, and one count of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on those charges on Dec. 15, 2014.

Glucksman has also pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Pisano on May 5, 2014, to 52 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered him to forfeit $1.2 million. Judge Pisano ordered Glucksman’s sentence to run partially concurrently with a 36-month sentence recently imposed by U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Eastern District of New York in an unrelated case.

In February 2012, Todd and his conspirators offered a pair of investors (referred to in the information as the “Facebook victims”) the opportunity to purchase large blocks of Facebook shares prior to the company’s initial public offering, or IPO, in May 2012. The offer was particularly attractive because large blocks of the shares were extremely difficult to get and were expected to increase in value at the time of the IPO. Weinstein and his conspirators did not actually have access to the shares.

Based on misrepresentations by the conspirators, the Facebook victims wired millions of dollars between February and March of 2012 to an account Weinstein and a conspirator controlled. Weinstein and another conspirator provided investors with false documents showing companies owned by various conspirators held assets, which would secure the Facebook victims’ investment.

The conspirators did not use any of the Facebook victims’ money to purchase Facebook shares, instead misappropriating it for their own use.

Around the same time, Todd and his conspirators also persuaded victims to invest in the purported purchase of an apartment complex in Florida. They told the victims that Weinstein had the opportunity to purchase the notes on the condominiums at a discounted price and immediately flip it at a substantial profit. The victims wired money to complete the purchase, but Todd and his conspirators instead used the money for their own purposes.

The conspiracy count to which Todd pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; the transacting in criminal proceeds count carries a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. Both are also punishable by a potential fine of $250,000 or twice the gross loss or gain from the scheme, whichever is greater.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, for their role in the investigation.

The government is represented by Counsel to the U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig; Gurbir S. Grewal, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zach Intrater of the Economic Crimes Unit; and Evan S. Weitz of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorney’s offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

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Covering Orthodox Judaism Since 2004 © 2004 – 2015

Rabbi "General" Fredrik "Fishel" Todd Sentencing Hearing Transcript

The entire sentencing hearing transcript of Rabbi Fredrik "Fishel" Todd, the Lakewood-based US Army "General" (who really wasn't) who provided the US military with Orthodox and haredi chaplains. Todd was involved in the second
Eliyahu Weinstein fraud and turned government witness.

THE COURT: …I don't come to this in a vacuum. I don't come to this in a vacuum because I have presided over more cases from the Orthodox --involving the Orthodox Jewish community than I can count, and it is not only from the Weinstein case, the Weinstein fraud and its fallout, but from several other criminal cases that have found their way to this [court]room. I have had  experience, I think, more than any other judge in this Court in dealing with criminal cases that come out of this community. And we have heard argument over and over again about the strength of the community, the close-knit community, the support that one another receives from being a member of this community, and now we're worried about whether Mr. Todd's family is going to be ostracized. Well, this affinity fraud to which Mr. Intrater refers is terrible. It has been going on for centuries, and it has got to come to a stop, and the only way it comes to a stop is if the people in the community put a stop to it. So, the fact of the matter is if Mr. Todd's family finds themselves ostracized in some way from the balance of the Orthodox community in Lakewood, they should be congratulated and comfortable in my view and set an example.…You know, it is a consequence of Mr. Todd's conduct. It is a consequence of what he did. And he is to be commended, and he is entitled to a downward departure under the circumstance that the government presents because I have no doubt that the Torres factors are met. His cooperation was timely. He came forward before being charged. Indeed, I dare say the agents didn't get to the word "remain," much less "remain silent" in the first conversation. His information turned out to be accurate. It was useful in the sense that they were able to confirm what they already knew. And to the extent there are social ramifications of his cooperation, well, so be it. I recognize that that's the case, and he is to be recognized for it, and I will, I'm going to grant the government's application. The question is to what extent. But there's no question that he is entitled to some consideration here because he did come forward, you know, but one thing I want to be clear about, to the extent it can be read in any of these memos that his testimony was going to be so critical to the government's case, to the investigation and to the proofs at trial against Mr. Weinstein, I want to just dispel that because, frankly, the government didn't need Mr. Todd. I have been through this. I have been through this case. I have seen --I have seen the records. We got the Chambers victims here in court. There are tape recordings. So, you know, there is evidence here that was going to be overwhelming, and Mr. Todd certainly is entitled to consideration because of what he did, but I want to be very clear about the fact that Weinstein in my view was going to be convicted whether he pled guilty or not.…

Rabbi Fred Todd - co-defendant with convicted fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein - confesses to Facebook & other fraud update:

9/15/14 -  Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim owes its students some honest answers. Thirteen years ago, Rabbi Fishel Todd started an ambitious program through the auspices of the Pirchei Shoshanim organization. Namely a smicha program for those that did not grow up in Torah centers, as well a curriculum to learn for the Israeli Rabbinut exams for those with a more normal learning background.

To do this he brought together an impressive group of Rabbanim. Rav Don Channan, musmach of Rav Azran of the Eidah, Rabbinut, Rav Deri, Rav Messas, and Rav Ovadia Yosef. Rav Dovid Ostroff, musmach of Rav S.Z. Auerbach, Rav Halberstam, Rabbanut, Rav Goldberg, Rav Meir Shtern and Rav Shternbuch. There was Rav Ezra Bloch musmach of Rav S.Z Auerbach, Rav Shach and Rav Kotler. Rav Shalom Gold of Jerusalem, Rav Yitzchak Tzvi Oshinski ect... and the list of impressive Chareidi Rabbanim continues to go on. The program quickly received endorsement of some prominent Rabbinic figures such as Rav Ezriel Auerbach, Rav Ovadia Yosef, and Rav Lau.

Under this umbrella the program grew, expanded, spawned Kollelim in Brooklyn, Lakewood, Philadelphia, Toronto, Dallas, Las Vegas, LA, Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem. They have taught thousands of students, awarded hundreds of smichas, and sponsored dozens of chaplains to the US military. A kashrut organization was started, serving odd places in Eastern Europe that even provided chassidishe shechitah. That was all in the first ten years.

Then two years ago the first rumblings of trouble began. Accusations of fraud arose against Rabbi Fishel Todd. Moral turpitude that simply does not belong in a Rosh Yeshiva. As the accusations proved more substantial the Vaad HaRabbanim of the Yeshiva asked Rav Fishel Todd to step down. He did not. As a result many of the great Rabbanim that started with the Pirchei Shoshanim program were quietly "laid off". Now their Rabbinic staff is a shadow of its former self.

Then last week Rav Fishel Todd plead guilty in US Federal court, as part of a plea deal that would keep him from further prosecution surrounding that particular fraud. Meanwhile accusations have arisen of another alleged fraud against Ball State University, as there are accusations arising of him allegedly giving out fake smichas.

In the midst of this there are many questions that need to be answered. What is the future of Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim, if any? What about the various alumni, now serving as Rabbanim around the world based on their YPS Smicha? What of the various chaplains that they have endorsed?

Unfortunately the students of Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim have been left in the dark. Not a single message has gone out explaining what has happened, what is happening, or what the future holds. For those who have Smicha from them this is obviously a great fear.

With the accusations arising of allegedly giving fake smicha's will their own continue to have any worth? For those who are simply using their materials to augment their normal Kollel learning to prepare for the Rabbanut exams, considering the price of their progams, the question remains will they continue or has their monetary investment been lost?

It seems clear that Pirchei owes its students some answers. The Rabbinical staff, including, perhaps even especially, those that left, owe their students some answers. Leaving them in the lurch is simply not Derech Eretz, it is not the way Rabbanim with stacks of Smichas from prominent Chareidi Gedolim should act. The splash damage from this could very well be incredible.

Haredi "General" Rabbi Fred "Fishel" Todd Linked To Ball State University Fraud

Haredi Rabbi Fred "Fishel" Todd of Lakewood, New Jersey vetted chaplains for the US Military and ran a smicha (rabbinic ordination) program. He also helped haredi über-scammer Eliyahu Weinstein steal millions of dollars. When caught, Todd acted as a cooperating witness against Weinstein and the other coconspirators in the scheme. And now Todd has been linked to another fraud, this time one committed against Ball State University in Indiana.

The Star Press reports:

Attorney linked to BSU scandal prosecuted

MUNCIE – An attorney involved in the Ball State University investment scandal pleaded guilty this week to his role in an unrelated scheme that defrauded investors during the sale of Facebook stock to the public.
Seven people linked to the BSU ripoff have now been either convicted, disbarred, sued for fraud or gone bankrupt.

The latest is Fred Todd, aka Rabbi Fishel Todd, 61, Lakewood, N.J. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton on Tuesday to receiving millions of dollars from investors who believed they were buying large blocks of Facebook shares prior to the company's initial public offering in May of 2012.

Todd and co-conspirators did not have access to the shares and kept the money for themselves.

Todd's law firm, Todd, Ferentz, Schwarcz and Rimberg, Los Angeles, represented Sterling Capital, a Los Angeles asset manager that was one of the parties with which Ball State invested $5 million in a fraudulent U.S Treasury STRIPS program during 2010.
In October of that year, Gale Prizevoits, then director of cash and investments at BSU, pressured Sterling Capital's Frank Saez to falsify a document he was asked to send to the State Board of Accounts to certify the safekeeping of the university's investment.
According to emails seized from Prizevoits' home computer by BSU officials a year later, Saez had agreed to falsify the document after consulting Todd.

"The attached is per our discussion with you and attorney Fred Todd, I hope that this meets your requirements," Saez wrote to Prizevoits on Oct. 7, 2010.

(The Star Press will publish a separate story on that incident later this week).

Prizevoits was fired from her $84,437 job by BSU President Jo Ann Gora for "incompetence, dishonesty, substantial and manifest neglect of duty, willful disobedience of university rules and regulations and gross misconduct."

She has not been charged with any crime by federal prosecutors, but Ball State officials said this summer they planned to present evidence to Delaware County Prosecutor Jeff Arnold to determine whether she committed any offenses under state law.  However, Arnold recently told The Star Press: "I have no involvement or knowledge of any investigation that is ongoing." Tom Taylor, vice president for marketing at Ball State, said in an interview this week that the university decided to postpone approaching Arnold until after Deborah Daniels completes her investigation of the scandal.

A former federal prosecutor, Daniels was hired by Indianapolis attorney Rick Hall, chairman of the Ball State board of trustees, to conduct an independent investigation of the $13.1 million in investments that Ball State lost when Prizevoits directed investments.
Taylor said he expects a report from Daniels to be completed and presented to the public within a month.

In the wake of the scandal, law enforcement action has been taken against Todd and six others:

• Seth Beoku Betts, Boynton Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty to securities fraud for his role in stealing funds from Ball State in a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) scheme.

• George Montolio, Bronx, N.Y., pleaded guilty to wire fraud for his role in stealing funds from Ball State in the T-STRIPS scheme.

• Jon Divens, an attorney from Beverly Hills, Calif., was disbarred for ripping off Betts.

• George Charles Cody Price, who hosted a radio show in San Diego called "The Wealth Weekend Hour," is defending himself against a fraud lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Betts had consulted Price for assistance with the BSU investment. The SEC claims Price concealed from investors the actual performance of their investment in one of the riskiest tranches of CMOs on the market. The lawsuit is not related to the Ball State fraud.

• In 2012, San Diego attorney H. Bruce Abbott and other defendants were sued in federal court by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Co. over an alleged "stranger-oriented life insurance" scheme. The alleged scheme is a "morbid and speculative" investment vehicle purchased with the intent of eventually transferring ownership to investors. Abbott was eventually dismissed from the litigation, which was settled out of court. He represented Blackhawk Wealth Solutions when Prizevoits invested $5 million of Ball State funds in suppsoed T-STRIPS. Prizevoits and Abbott communicated by email about BSU's investment.

• Peter Sollenne, a self-proclaimed "industry leader in wealth preservation" from Carlsbad, Calif., has not been charged but he has gone bankrupt. He was the principal of Blackhawk Wealth Solutions with whom BSU invested $5 million in supposed T-STRIPS.

 

Fishel Todd disbarred in New Jersey and in California...

It is clearly obvious why Noahide Nations and Rabbi Bloomenstiel could no longer be actively involved with Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim.  Neither of us could afford to have our reputations diminished
as a result of what Fishel Todd did to so many people.  But, out of respect, I continued to pay the yeshiva part of the revenues from the course.  Fishel Todd obviously does not have respect for what Noahide Nations did in his absence.

I hope this has answered the question of why Noahide Nations did what it had to do.