It is reported that Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, who is in the midst of a complex bribery trial, took an oath in HKBH’s name during an interrogation session on 25 Tishrei 5573 that he did not give a bribe despite allegations against him. The rav reportedly said “If I bribed Ephraim Bracha even with a pruta, then I will not live out the year”, continuing to say he swears, doing so before police interrogators.
The prosecution reports Rabbi Pinto has been interrogated nine times, and while he denied giving any bribes in his first interrogation session, during the second session he confirmed that he did give Bracha money but clarified it was not a bribe, simply assistance as he is accustomed to do for so many seeking his assistance.
The office of the prosecution adds that during the same interrogation session in which the rabbi swore he is innocent, he praised Ephraim Bracha as “an honest man with integrity, a unique individual, one who never asks for anything but always appears content…never did anything to me.”
However in the following interrogation session, Rav Pinto alleged that his rebitzen gave Bracha $200,000 to Bracha’s wife and the latter’s wife confirmed the transaction occurred. The rabbi then acknowledged that the money was a bribe to the senior Israel Police commander, adding the commander received additional sums previously and that at least ten people in his circle were aware of these transactions. The prosecution adds that in interviews with the people ‘in his circle’ denied most of the statements made by the rabbi. Authorities used future interrogation session to determine what the $200,000 was about and if it was a bribe or not. The prosecution also adds that Rabbi Pinto’s “shtick” will not help and they will get to the bottom of the matter and learn what really occurred.
The prosecution today reports there were more than a few contradictions during the sessions with Rabbi Pinto including one incident in which Rabbi Pinto referred to Bracha as “A big criminal” and that he, Bracha, demanded $400,000.
The rabbi also told officials in Israel that he is the one who made a report to the FBI about Bracha and that he never gave the senior police official bribes. Officials in Israel report the rabbi’s statement do not jibe with the reports received from US investigators. The prosecutor adds that Rebitzen Pinto contradicted her husband’s statements during her interrogation. She denied any knowledge of giving any money to Brach’s wife.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Not surprised!
I don’t know any of these people. I don’t really care to,
either. What I do want to know is, why is YWN reporting this?
It is pretty obvious that there is a certain individual and maybe a few people who dislike Rabbi pinto. Someone is spreading rumors that is not 100% the truth. Some outsider keeps on bending this story more and more. We all know that it is very easy to change the story a drop, then it gets changed another drop. Those same people that dislike Mr. Pinto, I am sure they dislike many many other people. After they finish the Pinto story , they move on to the next guy. I am positive that if you were to review all the documentation pertaining to the defense and prosecution , all of a sudden, the story will begin to change. Usually, when A tells B a negative story about C, he will always leave out 1 or more important details.
I do not understand:
He can swear that he did not give Bracha a bribe, yet admit that his wife gave Bracha’s wife a bribe. How did she manage to do this with out his approval?
I can’t believe that anyone here is believing any of this. All of us know that big power-brokers — especially those who would give business advice to Anthony Weiner, Michael Grimm, and Lebron James — never lie and are always honest. This is unbelievable.