TRENTON—A Brooklyn, New York man admitted today in Trenton federal court to traveling to New Jersey in order to coerce a Jewish man to give his wife a religious divorce—referred to as a “get”—through threats of violence, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Simcha Bulmash, 30, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with traveling in interstate commerce to commit extortion. His bail conditions include a $500,000 bond and GPS monitoring.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On October 9, 2013, Bulmash and a group of conspirators—including Jay Goldstein, 59; Moshe Goldstein, 31; Avrohom Goldstein, 34; David Hellman, 31; Ariel Potash, 40; Binyamin Stimler, 38; and Sholom Shuchat, 29—traveled from New York to a warehouse in Edison, New Jersey, with the intent of forcing a Jewish man to give his wife a “get,” a divorce document which, according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce.
Bulmash admitted that when he arrived at the warehouse, the group met with an individual who, unbeknownst to them, was an undercover FBI agent posing as the husband’s brother in law. Bulmash admitted that they discussed a plan and prepared to confine, restrain, and threaten the victim.
The group was then arrested by a team of FBI agents and charged by criminal complaint—along with rabbis Mendel Epstein, 68, and Martin Wolmark, 55—in connection with the scheme. Hellman pleaded guilty to an information charging him with traveling in interstate commerce to commit extortion on March 6, 2014. Moshe and Avrohom Goldstein pleaded guilty to the same charge on March 11, 2014. The charges against the remaining alleged conspirators remain pending. All the defendants reside in Brooklyn, except Potash and Wolmark, who live in Monsey, New York.
During his guilty plea proceeding, Bulmash also admitted that on August 22, 2011, he and others went to a residence in Brooklyn where they restrained, assaulted, and injured a man in an attempt to extort a divorce from him. That conduct will be considered by the court during sentencing, currently scheduled for July 10, 2014.
Bulmash faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Lakewood, New Jersey Police Department for their role.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Joseph Gribko and Sarah Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton.
The pending charges and allegations against related defendants are merely allegations, and they are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Showing posts with label divorce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label divorce. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
To fight poverty, start with women
There's a coming showdown between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of income inequality. President Obama has called it the "defining issue of our time."
Progressives recognize that sustaining unemployment benefits, increasing the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay are key weapons. Republicans, who recently voted to leave 1.3 million Americans in the cold by not extending unemployment benefits, frame the inequality debate as yet another attempt to implement liberal, anti-free market, big-government giveaways. Americans know better.
In a speech last week, GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio said federal money should be given to the states to figure out how to deal with poverty. He called for replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit with a subsidy to encourage people to take low-wage jobs, and for the federal government to encourage marriage. He called President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty a failure.
But there is no question that without the War on Poverty, millions more would be in it today. Attempts to paint it any other way will backfire, as majorities of Americans support its policies. Republicans have a chance to show they are on the side of the American people in addressing poverty and inequality. America's women and children, in particular, are depending on them.
In fact, 50 years after Johnson declared war on poverty, an astonishing new report by Maria Shriver paints a bleak picture of today's barren economic landscape for 42 million women and 28 million children.
Shriver's father, Sargent Shriver, helped lead the Johnson administration's all-out campaign on behalf of the elderly, the hungry and vulnerable families and children. While facts show that without this effort many more Americans would be in poverty today, Maria Shriver's report, "A Woman's Nation Pushes Back From the Brink," describes a much-changed nation in which poverty wears a different face.
On the one hand, it is indisputable that women have made much progress. A majority of women are now family breadwinners, and they hold more college degrees than men. Women have also made gains in reaching the highest levels in business and politics. But these benchmarks mask a disturbing reality: Too many women are one missed paycheck, one illness, one hospital visit or car breakdown away from economic disaster.
A recent best-seller urged career women to "lean in" to succeed in the workplace. The Shriver report underscores how many women lie awake at night worrying that they could fall out of the middle or working class and into the ranks of the poor. While many of us are pondering how to have it all, these strong women are doing it all, without having much. Shamefully, the richest country in the world does not invest enough to allow women to keep fueling America's economic growth while securing their own economic futures and those of their children.
The report lists many reasons for this predicament -- the lack of well-paying jobs that offer upward mobility; the change in the family structure where majorities of low-income women, many of them single, are heads of households; and most importantly, the lack of good education.
Those are the overarching realities, but there are many more subtle, hidden aspects of the economic landscape for women in America. One-third live in or on the brink of poverty. They struggle to get their children to school at 7 for breakfast, so they can take their mothers to medical appointments and still make it to work by 9. Forty-two million women represent two-thirds of minimum-wage workers in the country, and women still make just 77% of what men make.
So what can be done? For starters, we can fix the wage discrepancy between men and women. This could cut the poverty rate in half for struggling working women and it would represent an economic stimulus of half a trillion dollars.
The Shriver report also outlines a set of other public policy solutions, including raising the minimum wage for all and helping women access better paying jobs through job training. It describes how government support structures could allow for better and more affordable child care, enabling women to balance the roles of caregiver and breadwinner.
And in a surprising revelation, it uncovers the regret many of these low-income women express about marrying early -- and also, in many cases, their satisfaction at having gotten divorced. Republican lectures about marriage and family values will not work to solve poverty. But making education and child care accessible, closing the wage gap and leveling the playing field will.
Republicans should note that one of the studies in the Shriver report shows that women of color -- a key demographic with whom the party desperately needs to make inroads -- overwhelmingly believe government has a role to play in providing adaptive workplace structures and policies that support today's contemporary families. No, this is not a plea for a handout. These women, while in a more financially precarious position than their white counterparts, are also more optimistic about their futures. As in: I want to work hard and know there are better economic opportunities out there for me to succeed.
These policy solutions the report offers are not new; progressives have been fighting for them for a very long time. But it also outlines what we can do as individuals, communities and corporations. We can, for example, help young girls make smarter choices, promote a "college before kids" mentality, and help businesses identify best practice policies that can better support low-wage women workers.
So let's forgo the showdown. These are common-sense proposals that uphold mainstream principles of taking care of our families and children. They are not liberal, progressive or Democratic values. They are American values that will protect and secure the American dream for everyone once and for all. Americans expect our leaders from both parties to uphold them. Let's get to work.
Progressives recognize that sustaining unemployment benefits, increasing the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay are key weapons. Republicans, who recently voted to leave 1.3 million Americans in the cold by not extending unemployment benefits, frame the inequality debate as yet another attempt to implement liberal, anti-free market, big-government giveaways. Americans know better.
In a speech last week, GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio said federal money should be given to the states to figure out how to deal with poverty. He called for replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit with a subsidy to encourage people to take low-wage jobs, and for the federal government to encourage marriage. He called President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty a failure.
But there is no question that without the War on Poverty, millions more would be in it today. Attempts to paint it any other way will backfire, as majorities of Americans support its policies. Republicans have a chance to show they are on the side of the American people in addressing poverty and inequality. America's women and children, in particular, are depending on them.
In fact, 50 years after Johnson declared war on poverty, an astonishing new report by Maria Shriver paints a bleak picture of today's barren economic landscape for 42 million women and 28 million children.
Shriver's father, Sargent Shriver, helped lead the Johnson administration's all-out campaign on behalf of the elderly, the hungry and vulnerable families and children. While facts show that without this effort many more Americans would be in poverty today, Maria Shriver's report, "A Woman's Nation Pushes Back From the Brink," describes a much-changed nation in which poverty wears a different face.
On the one hand, it is indisputable that women have made much progress. A majority of women are now family breadwinners, and they hold more college degrees than men. Women have also made gains in reaching the highest levels in business and politics. But these benchmarks mask a disturbing reality: Too many women are one missed paycheck, one illness, one hospital visit or car breakdown away from economic disaster.
A recent best-seller urged career women to "lean in" to succeed in the workplace. The Shriver report underscores how many women lie awake at night worrying that they could fall out of the middle or working class and into the ranks of the poor. While many of us are pondering how to have it all, these strong women are doing it all, without having much. Shamefully, the richest country in the world does not invest enough to allow women to keep fueling America's economic growth while securing their own economic futures and those of their children.
The report lists many reasons for this predicament -- the lack of well-paying jobs that offer upward mobility; the change in the family structure where majorities of low-income women, many of them single, are heads of households; and most importantly, the lack of good education.
Those are the overarching realities, but there are many more subtle, hidden aspects of the economic landscape for women in America. One-third live in or on the brink of poverty. They struggle to get their children to school at 7 for breakfast, so they can take their mothers to medical appointments and still make it to work by 9. Forty-two million women represent two-thirds of minimum-wage workers in the country, and women still make just 77% of what men make.
So what can be done? For starters, we can fix the wage discrepancy between men and women. This could cut the poverty rate in half for struggling working women and it would represent an economic stimulus of half a trillion dollars.
The Shriver report also outlines a set of other public policy solutions, including raising the minimum wage for all and helping women access better paying jobs through job training. It describes how government support structures could allow for better and more affordable child care, enabling women to balance the roles of caregiver and breadwinner.
And in a surprising revelation, it uncovers the regret many of these low-income women express about marrying early -- and also, in many cases, their satisfaction at having gotten divorced. Republican lectures about marriage and family values will not work to solve poverty. But making education and child care accessible, closing the wage gap and leveling the playing field will.
Republicans should note that one of the studies in the Shriver report shows that women of color -- a key demographic with whom the party desperately needs to make inroads -- overwhelmingly believe government has a role to play in providing adaptive workplace structures and policies that support today's contemporary families. No, this is not a plea for a handout. These women, while in a more financially precarious position than their white counterparts, are also more optimistic about their futures. As in: I want to work hard and know there are better economic opportunities out there for me to succeed.
These policy solutions the report offers are not new; progressives have been fighting for them for a very long time. But it also outlines what we can do as individuals, communities and corporations. We can, for example, help young girls make smarter choices, promote a "college before kids" mentality, and help businesses identify best practice policies that can better support low-wage women workers.
So let's forgo the showdown. These are common-sense proposals that uphold mainstream principles of taking care of our families and children. They are not liberal, progressive or Democratic values. They are American values that will protect and secure the American dream for everyone once and for all. Americans expect our leaders from both parties to uphold them. Let's get to work.
Police: Ex-Chef Described Bloody Slaying of Wife
An unemployed Las Vegas chef who turned himself in at a police station described in grim detail how he stabbed his wife to death in their apartment kitchen and said he'd do it again, according to an arrest report made public Monday.
Richard Magdayo Dahan, 40, was held at the Clark County jail without bail pending a court appearance this week on a first-degree murder charge in the recent slaying of his 28-year-old wife, Daisy Casalta Dahan.
Records didn't reflect whether Richard Dahan had a lawyer, and the Clark County public defender's office wasn't immediately assigned to his case.
Richard Dahan waited in the lobby of a police station before telling investigators that Daisy Dahan was sitting at the kitchen table when he attacked her with a serrated chef knife that got tangled in her hair. He said he hit his wife several times in the head with a meat cleaver and stabbed her torso with a filet knife.
"Richard said he felt that killing Daisy was the only thing left for him to do," investigators said in the police report. "He said he felt he had no other options."
"Richard said that if he was able to go back in time to the point where he took the first knife out of the dishwasher, he would kill Daisy again," investigators said.
Richard Dahan told police he was a kidney transplant recipient in failing health who lost his job as a chef at a Las Vegas Strip casino resort.
He said he and Daisy Dahan married in October 2011 in the Philippines, but that after she moved to Las Vegas they squabbled over money and his relationship with a former girlfriend with whom he has two children. He said she demanded a divorce, but he felt that was unacceptable because his parents stayed married until his father died.
Daisy Dahan was found Friday in the bloody kitchen with "massive" slash and stab wounds to the throat and abdomen, police said, and Richard Dahan had cuts on his hands and a broken finger.
Police said he was still wearing bloody clothes when he was arrested.
Richard Dahan is due to appear in court Wednesday.
Richard Magdayo Dahan, 40, was held at the Clark County jail without bail pending a court appearance this week on a first-degree murder charge in the recent slaying of his 28-year-old wife, Daisy Casalta Dahan.
Records didn't reflect whether Richard Dahan had a lawyer, and the Clark County public defender's office wasn't immediately assigned to his case.
Richard Dahan waited in the lobby of a police station before telling investigators that Daisy Dahan was sitting at the kitchen table when he attacked her with a serrated chef knife that got tangled in her hair. He said he hit his wife several times in the head with a meat cleaver and stabbed her torso with a filet knife.
"Richard said he felt that killing Daisy was the only thing left for him to do," investigators said in the police report. "He said he felt he had no other options."
"Richard said that if he was able to go back in time to the point where he took the first knife out of the dishwasher, he would kill Daisy again," investigators said.
Richard Dahan told police he was a kidney transplant recipient in failing health who lost his job as a chef at a Las Vegas Strip casino resort.
He said he and Daisy Dahan married in October 2011 in the Philippines, but that after she moved to Las Vegas they squabbled over money and his relationship with a former girlfriend with whom he has two children. He said she demanded a divorce, but he felt that was unacceptable because his parents stayed married until his father died.
Daisy Dahan was found Friday in the bloody kitchen with "massive" slash and stab wounds to the throat and abdomen, police said, and Richard Dahan had cuts on his hands and a broken finger.
Police said he was still wearing bloody clothes when he was arrested.
Richard Dahan is due to appear in court Wednesday.
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