Brooklyn charity implicated in scheme to steal more than $5M
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Tuesday the arrest of William Rapfogel, former executive director and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (“Met Council”), a charity with offices in Midwood, Brooklyn, on felony charges of grand larceny, money laundering, criminal tax fraud and conspiracy, among others.
The AG’s complaint charges Rapfogel with conspiring with others to inflate the rate of insurance policies paid by Met Council while pocketing the difference in cost, amounting to more than $5 million stolen from the organization over roughly 20 years. Rapfogel received payments on a regular basis in envelopes of cash and in the form of checks for personal expenses, such as payment for a home contractor.
In the course of the investigation, which began in August following Rapfogel’s termination from Met Council, attorneys and investigators from the AG’s Office uncovered details of a scheme stretching back to the early 1990s.