7 New York Residents Accused of Committing E-Rate Fraud
Seven Rockland, New York, residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of a multiyear scheme to defraud the E-rate program, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Between 2009 and 2016, the seven applied for $35 million…
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in E-rate funding and received $14 million, prosecutors alleged. Simon Goldbrener, Ben Klein, Peretz Klein, Susan Klein, Aron Melber, Moshe Schwartz and Sholem Steinberg, who were vendors, consultants and yeshiva school officials, were charged with fraud. “As alleged, for years, these defendants stole money from the E‑rate program, billing the E-rate program for equipment and services which were not in fact provided,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman. “The defendants allegedly fraudulently obtained millions of dollars in E rate funds to which they were not entitled, and which should lawfully have been spent to help provide access to technology to educate underprivileged children.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted he's grateful prosecutors are clamping down on E-rate fraud.