FBI agents and police raided four Rockland County vendors to investigate allegations that charedi yeshivas had misused federal E-Rate funds meant for computer and phone equipment, The Journal News reported.
The investigators issued search warrants to the vendors before seizing boxes of records capable of proving whether the millions of dollars in grant money issued to the yeshivas over the past several years was used for its intended purpose: the purchase of educational telecommunications technology.
The apparent misallocation of funds was first uncovered by The Jewish Week in 2013. The four-month investigation by reporters Julie Wiener and Hella Winston uncovered signs of possible misuse such as that Yeshivat Avir Yakov in Brooklyn accepted $3.3 million in E-Rate funding while the building remained devoid of computers.
Both the U.S. Attorney and Rockland’s District Attorney have yet to comment on the raid as well as the status of the investigation.
Read The Jewish Week's 3-part, investigation here:
Part 1: Haredi Schools Reap Millions In Federal Tech Funds
Part 2: How Do Haredi Schools Get All That Money?
Part 3: E-Rate Program Dogged By Concerns
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