William Rapfogel, the ousted leader of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty in New York, was arrested on charges of grand larceny and money laundering.
Rapfogel was taken into custody Tuesday and was expected to be arraigned the same day in Manhattan Criminal Court, The Wall Street Journal reported.
He was fired in August after financial irregularities were discovered in an investigation initiated by the Met Council’s board of directors. New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the state comptroller’s office then opened a probe.
Rapfogel had served as CEO and president of the Met Council from 1992.
“I deeply regret the mistakes I have made that led to my departure from the organization,” he said following his ouster by the social service agency.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Rapfogel allegedly inflated the Met Council’s health insurance payments by several hundred thousand dollars a year and then split the proceeds with politicians who supplied grants to the agency.
Rapfogel hosts an annual breakfast that draws many influential political figures. His wife, Judy, is chief of staff for state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
The Met Council provides employment services, crisis intervention, emergency food and other programs for poor Jewish households.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
