Former Central United Talmudic Academy Indicted On Federal Charges In $3M Fraud Scheme

Two former employees of Central United Talmudic Academy (CUTA), Brooklyn school system, was indicted Thursday on four counts of mail fraud, one count of wire and mail fraud.

The criminal indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Thursday against Joel Lowy and Elozer Porges, both former officials of CUTA, for their role in a $3 million fraud scheme.

Lowry, former Assistant Director, and Porges, former Executive Director, allegedly submitted false documents to the New York State Department of Health between 2013 and 2015, claiming that at-risk students had received meals that had not even been served. Both men inflated the meal numbers at several CUTA schools to obtain larger reimbursements in accordance with the Child and Adult Care Food Program, a federal program that assists public schools in providing meals to at-risk students. Lowy and Porges received about $3 million in reimbursements for their false representation, according to the five-count indictment.

“The Child and Adult Care Food Program strives to provide for at-risk children and as school officials, Porges and Lowy should have strived to do the same,” said Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeny. “Instead, they allegedly falsified documents to gain approximately $3 million in reimbursement for meals that were never served. To defraud programs designed to help those in need is simply inexcusable and we will work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate these frauds.”

Both defendants face 20 years in prison for the mail fraud and wire fraud count, as well as each of the mail fraud counts.