Two Orthodox rabbis are accused of plotting kidnappings and
beatings of Jewish men to pressure them into granting religious divorces to
their wives.
The FBI said Thursday that agents arrested rabbis Mendel
Epstein and Martin Wolmark in a sting operation, where an undercover posed as a
woman who wanted out of her marriage. Orthodox rules allow only a man to
initiate a divorce.
Initially charged were Rabbis Mendel Epstein, 68, and Martin
Wolmark, 55, Ariel Potash, 40, and a fourth individual only identified as
“Yaakov.” All four are due to appear in U.S. District Court in Trenton later
today.
The men allegedly asked for tens of thousands of dollars to
target husbands, and claimed they did jobs like this every 18 months in their
community.
The criminal complaint alleged the two rabbis boasted of a
plan to use electric cattle prods, plastic bags over heads and other methods to
persuade reluctant husbands. In the sting operation, the FBI said the pair
earlier this month even helped scout a warehouse in Middlesex County to hold
husbands hostage.
The rabbis allegedly met in Rockland County in August to
authorize the kidnapping-for-divorce-plot. They said they wanted $10,000 for
the kidnapping and $50,000 to $60,000 to pay a "tough guy."
In one exchange with an undercover posing as an unhappily
married woman, Wolmark allegedly told her "you need special rabbis who are
going to take this thing and see it through to the end."
"You need to get him to New York where someone can either
harass him or nail him," he allegedly added.
The FBI said two others have also been charged.
The suspects were expected to appear in federal court in
Trenton Thursday on the federal charges.
Attempts to locate attorneys for the suspects were not immediately
successful Thursday morning.
FBI agents were seen overnight searching a Brooklyn home and
an upstate yeshiva in connection with the investigation.
The charges include plotting to kidnap, abduct, hold for
ransom and threaten to "coerce a man to conduct a divorce."
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