Benny Rogosnitzky, a cantor at a prestigious Manhattan temple, is accused of scamming almost $500,000 from a charity, a longtime supporter and his soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law, the Daily News reported on Sunday.
According to the report, a federal suit claims Rogosnitzky, known at Park East Synagogue for his "smooth charm and rich voice," tricked a marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel and an education group, Gateways, out of more than $300,000.
Klara Ringel, whose daughter is embroiled in a bitter divorce with Rogosnitzky, said he deceived her into giving $132,000 to a corrupt charity, the Daily News reported.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky, 36, claimed in court records that he's the victim. He said his estranged wife, 37-year-old Chana Ringel, and her family trashed his reputation, forcing him to leave the Jewish Center on the upper West Side, where he'd worked for 13 years.
The cantor declined to comment on the Daily News' report, but the cantor's spokesman, Andrew Moesel, said that Ringel's accusations are tied to the divorce. The couple has two children.
"These accusations are part of a smear campaign designed to apply pressure in a matrimonial dispute," Moesel was quoted by the Daily News as saying. "Mr. Rogosnitzky fully intends to repay any business debts as soon as the divorce matter is resolved."
However, Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, founder and president of Gateways, told the Daily News that Rogosnitzky is "a dangerous person."
In a deposition, Suchard claimed that in 2008 Rogosnitzky asked to use a Gateways credit card to reserve space for a retreat sponsored by his own organization, Cantors World. When the American Express bills rolled in, there were charges for El Al tickets to Israel,
kosher food and liquor to the tune of $150,547, he said in a deposition.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky initially said he didn't know anything about the charges, but then he called them a mistake.
Court papers, the report said, allege that the cantor even told American Express he was a Gateways employee entitled to use the card. Only $45,000 has been repaid - by one of Rogosnitzky's congregants, the Daily News said.
According to a deposition, Tziporah Spear, marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel, had a similar run-in with the cantor. Court records show that Rogosnitzky asked her for a credit card in 2007 to hold a reservation for a Cantors World event, then ran up $150,000 in charges, including 17 plane tickets.
RSS
