QUALCOMM MANAGER ADMITS ROLE IN RABBI’S FRAUD
Cooper the eighth person to plead guilty in scheme
A Qualcomm engineering manager admitted Tuesday to defrauding the company out of more than $27,000 in charitable corporate matching donations as part of the larger fraud scheme orchestrated by former Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein.
Rotem Cooper, 54, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement after pleading guilty in a hearing in San Diego federal court. He admitted engaging in a scheme in which he would make fake charitable contributions to the “Friendship Circle,” an organization run out of Goldstein’s chabad, and then get Qualcomm’s corporate matching program to also contribute.
In reality, prosecutors said he got 90 percent of his contribution secretly returned in cash by an associate of Goldstein’s identified in court documents as “Y.H.” and described as “the director of a religious congregation and community organization located in San Diego.” Goldstein and Y.H. would then divvy up between them the corporate matching funds, prosecutors said in court documents filed in the case.
In all, Cooper made 11 bogus contributions to the Friendship Circle and Qualcomm unknowingly made corporate matching gifts totaling $27,330, according to charging documents in the case. In addition to Cooper getting most of his personal “donation” back from Y.H., Goldstein also signed a letter falsely saying Cooper had made a donation.
With that letter Cooper was able to claim charitable tax deductions for that year, court records say. Between 2010 and 2017 he underpaid his taxes by $7,960.
Initially Y.H. wanted Cooper to make the bogus contributions and corporate match to his organization, but religious groups were ineligible under Qualcomm’s matching program. But the Friendship Circle was a nonsectarian group that was eligible, and Y.H. and Goldstein agreed to work together, according to prosecutors.
Under a deferred prosecution agreement, someone admits guilt, but the final execution of the plea is delayed for a certain period of time while they fulfill requirements laid out in the agreement. If at the end of that time they have not committed another crime and have fulfilled the terms of the deal, prosecutors dismiss the case and the conviction is erased.
Cooper’s agreement runs for two years. During that time he has to remain lawabiding, cooperate with the ongoing investigation into Goldstein’s fraudulent activities, pay back $27,330 to Qualcomm and pay all back taxes he avoided.
Cooper is now the eighth person known to have pleaded guilty in the extensive and long-running fraud scheme run by Goldstein for decades. In July the rabbi pleaded guilty to tax fraud and wire fraud charges that included scams involving tax, real estate, insurance and grant frauds.
Five others also pleaded guilty at that time to various roles in the schemes — guilty pleas that revealed a lengthy investigation by federal authorities into the rabbi’s dealings. In September his brother Mendel Goldstein also pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges.
Yisroel Goldstein gained international recognition in the aftermath of the attack on Chabad of Poway in April 2019. One person was killed and three others injured, including Goldstein, who lost the index finger to his right hand.
John T. Earnest, the now-21-year-old accused gunman, is charged in both state and federal court.
By the time of the shooting, Goldstein had been under investigation for months and was cooperating with investigators seeking to untangle his extensive frauds. When he pleaded guilty, he agreed to pay $2.5 million in restitution, and U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer said that his office would not seek prison time for rabbi.
Brewer cited the rabbi’s work after the shooting, where he made public calls for forgiveness and peace, as well as his cooperation with the investigation.