Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto Pleads Guilty To Bribing Israeli Police
Celebrity Israeli Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto pleaded guilty in a Tel Aviv court to charges of bribery as part of a plea deal.
Pinto, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, attempted bribery, and obstruction of justice for attempting to bribe a senior police officer for information in another investigation about him. As part of the plea bargain, Pinto agreed to provide evidence that he bribed a more senior officer.
He faces up to a year in prison plus fines. He surrendered his passport to the court.
Pinto, is the head of several charity organizations and yeshivot in Ashdod in southern Israel and in the U.S.
He arrived in Israel on Monday and was rushed to a Tel Aviv hospital after complaining of chest pains. A cardiac catheterization showed that he did not suffer a heart attack.
In April, 2014, U.S. federal prosecutors brought charges against former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) for receiving large contributions from followers of Pinto. Grimm admitted to receiving several hundred thousand dollars in contributions from Pinto followers.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO