Feed aggregator

The Chernobyler Rebbe has issued an emotional appeal to Klal Yisroel, urging Jews around the world to intensify their tefillos for the swift release of the body of R’ Akiva Rand z”l, the yungerman who was tragically killed in a devastating traffic accident in Moldova earlier this week.

Despite ongoing efforts by askanim in both Moldova and Eretz Yisroel, Moldovan authorities have not yet released the body, delaying plans to bring him to kevurah in Eretz Yisroel.

As previously reported, the fatal accident occurred Wednesday near Kishinev, Moldova, as a group of avreichim was traveling to the kever of the tzaddik Rav Yechiel of Krylovitz, zya, together with many Chernobyler chassidim. The pilgrimage had been organized in conjunction with the Chernobyler Rebbe, who ultimately did not make the trip.

R’ Akiva Rand, z”ל, one of the prominent Chernobyler chassidim in Yerushalayim, was killed in the horrific crash. Despite extensive efforts by numerous askanim, both locally in Moldova and in Israel, authorities have yet to authorize the release of his body for burial.

In response, the Chernobyler Rebbe instructed that all chassidim worldwide be asked to storm the heavens in davening on behalf of the departed, R’ Akiva ben yblch”t R’ Mordechai Dovid, beseeching Hashem that the body be released without further delay so that he may be brought to his final resting place in Eretz Hakodesh.

A Honduran illegal alien has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after admitting his role in an $89 million payroll fraud operation that enabled illegal alien construction workers and their employers to evade payroll taxes and other legal requirements.

Announcing the sentence, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said the case exposed a far-reaching scheme that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars while facilitating the employment of illegal aliens.

“Today, we held an illegal alien from Honduras accountable for a brazen scheme that stole more than $38 million from American taxpayers to facilitate the employment of illegal aliens,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said.

“This case exposes how unchecked illegal immigration fuels widespread payroll tax fraud and underground economies that harm American workers and taxpayers,” McDonald said. “This sentence sends a strong message: Those who exploit our open borders, cheat the U.S. Treasury, and violate federal laws will face justice.”

According to the Department of Justice, Mario Flores, an illegal alien from Honduras, conspired with others between 2015 and 2022 to establish a network of shell companies that operated an illegal check-cashing and cash courier business.

Federal prosecutors said the companies processed approximately $89 million in checks for construction subcontractors, charging fees for converting the checks into cash. Authorities said the arrangement allowed contractors and subcontractors to pay workers off the books, avoid withholding payroll taxes, and employ individuals without regard for whether they were legally authorized to work in the United States. Investigators also alleged that Flores caused false tax documents to be filed with the IRS to conceal the operation.

Prosecutors further said Flores and his associates defrauded workers’ compensation insurance carriers by leasing insurance certificates to contractors and providing insurers with false information, including inaccurate figures regarding the number of employees covered and the wages they received.

“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to protecting the integrity of our financial system and enforcing our nation’s laws,” HSI’s John Condon said. “Those who orchestrate large-scale payroll tax fraud and facilitate the illegal employment of unauthorized workers will be held accountable.”

Flores pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Three of Flores’ co-conspirators—Iris Villafranca, Osman Zapata, and Francisco Alvarez—had already been sentenced in the case. Their prison terms ranged from four years to 17 years.

{Matzav.com}

The federal trial over the devastating January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires hit a major obstacle Thursday when jurors informed the court they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict after two days of deliberations.

The deadlocked jury notified U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang that it could not agree on whether Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is guilty of the three federal arson charges he faces. Those charges include arson involving property used in interstate commerce, destruction of property by fire, and setting timber afire. Rather than declaring a mistrial, Hwang instructed the jurors to return Friday and continue their deliberations.

Defense attorney Steve Haney urged the judge to deliver an Allen charge, a special instruction encouraging jurors to continue discussing the case in an effort to reach a unanimous decision.

Federal prosecutors contend that Rinderknecht deliberately ignited the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Day. According to their theory, the blaze continued to smolder underground for nearly a week before reigniting as the catastrophic Palisades Fire six days later.

Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty and insists he did not start the fire. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 45 years in federal prison. Prosecutors built their case around surveillance video, cellphone location data, and what they described as incriminating online activity, including ChatGPT searches asking whether a cigarette could ignite a wildfire. They argue the evidence places Rinderknecht at the fire’s point of origin shortly before smoke was first reported.

The government also called witnesses who testified about Rinderknecht’s actions before the fire and introduced recordings of interviews he gave to investigators.

Haney countered that prosecutors failed to produce any physical evidence connecting his client to the fire’s origin. He argued that the Lachman Fire and the later Palisades Fire were unrelated events and maintained that fireworks—not Rinderknecht—were responsible for igniting the blaze.

The defense further argued that Rinderknecht behaved like someone trying to help rather than someone attempting to conceal a crime. Attorneys pointed to the multiple 911 calls he made and emphasized that he remained at the scene instead of fleeing. They also presented a witness who testified that he heard an explosion near the area before observing four men leave the location.

Earlier in the week, Judge Hwang rejected the defense’s request to dismiss the case after prosecutors presented expert testimony supporting their claim that the Palisades Fire originated from the earlier Lachman Fire. The Palisades Fire ultimately claimed 12 lives and destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and other structures.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday unveiled a collection of internal Health and Human Services emails that he says show HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intervening in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine policies and communications.

According to Sanders, the emails suggest Kennedy directed the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee to limit vaccine availability, authorized researchers to examine confidential information in an effort to support the disputed claim that vaccines cause autism, and altered federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations without consulting the CDC.

Another set of emails indicates that Kennedy’s then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, contacted then-CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025, instructing that major agency actions undergo political oversight before being finalized.

The email stated there was a need for a “political review of major decisions at CDC … to ensure that [the Immediate Office of the Secretary] and the CDC political leadership all have eyes on the decisions for approval/changes before they go into effect.”

Sanders said Monarez was dismissed less than a week later after refusing to endorse recommendations issued by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

In a statement, Sanders called Monarez’s termination “outrageous,” arguing that she lost her position “for her commitment to public health and vaccines.” The Vermont senator urged Congress to conduct a bipartisan investigation into the firing and renewed his call for Kennedy to step down.

The emails also appear to show that Kennedy ordered the cancellation of federal influenza vaccine advertising campaigns. In one message, a CDC employee informed her supervisor that Andrew Nixon, HHS communications director, had instructed her to immediately halt all flu vaccine promotional efforts.

“He said this request came directly from the Secretary,” the staffer wrote. “I noted that these have been paid for and are in flight and he acknowledged and asked that we work right away on things that are on social/online, magazines, and then will eventually need to do items that may be on bus stops or benches (if it includes those type of things).”

A separate email from Nixon, which Sanders also released, reiterated that the directive “was a direct ask from Secretary Kennedy.”

Sanders said the emails were provided to the Senate committee by Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer.

The senator, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has repeatedly urged Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to hold hearings examining Kennedy’s statements about vaccines. Kennedy was a longtime vaccine skeptic before being nominated by President Trump to lead HHS, and Sanders has accused him of spreading misinformation while serving as secretary.

In an April letter to Cassidy, Sanders wrote, “The reality is that since Secretary Kennedy has been in office, he has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that vaccines cause autism — all of which have been repeatedly rejected by scientists,” Sanders wrote in his letter to Cassidy in April.

A federal judge has ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to give sworn testimony in two lawsuits accusing him and his political action committee of misleading voters in key battleground states through a high-profile $1 million giveaway ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower of the Western District of Texas ruled Thursday that Musk must appear for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by two Arizona women. The plaintiffs allege that America PAC fraudulently obtained voters’ personal information by promoting a contest that promised to award $1 million each day in the lead-up to Election Day.

The controversy stems from remarks Musk made during an October 2024 town hall event in Pennsylvania, where he announced that participants who signed America PAC’s petition could receive the cash prize.

“The only thing we ask for the million dollars is that you be a spokesperson for the petition,” Musk told a recipient he handpicked from the audience at the time.

According to Reuters, Judge Hightower said there remains a factual question over whether Musk acted recklessly by describing the prize selection as “random.” In her ruling, she cited testimony from America PAC director Christopher Young, who said during a February 2026 deposition that he had been “surprised” by Musk’s characterization of the giveaway.

The plaintiffs, Joy Harvick and Jacqueline McAferty, contend that Musk and America PAC deceived voters in seven battleground states by encouraging them to sign the petition under the impression that winners would be selected at random. They argue that the 19 recipients were instead chosen because, as one of Musk’s attorneys reportedly stated, they would serve as effective spokespeople for the organization.

Musk promoted similar giveaway campaigns in several other states, including Michigan. In October 2025, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed suit against Musk and America PAC, alleging the promotions amounted to “illegal lotteries.” Musk subsequently sought to have that case transferred to federal court.

Rick Hasen, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, said federal law draws a distinction between paying someone to sign a petition and paying someone in connection with voter registration.

“If all he was doing was paying people to sign the petition, that might be a waste of money. But there’s nothing illegal about it,” Hasen told the Associated Press in October 2024. “The problem is that the only people eligible to participate in this giveaway are the people who are registered to vote. And that makes it illegal.”

{Matzav.com}