NOVEMBER 16, 2010, 5:51 P.M. ET

Associated Press

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP13cc7640565748ef90fb0540ae34d7dc.html

TRENTON, N.J. — Three New York men arrested in a large-scale federal money laundering sting in New Jersey last year pleaded guilty Tuesday to running unlicensed money transmitting businesses.

Abraham Pollack and Naftoly Weber, both of Brooklyn, and Spring Valley resident Benjamin Spira admitted running the businesses, called cash houses, in Brooklyn.

The three admitted illegally transmitting hundreds of thousand of dollars to Rabbi Mordchai Fish and to an undercover government cooperator. They each face a maximum five-year prison term and a fine up to $250,000.

Charges against Fish are pending.

According to court filings, government cooperator Solomon Dwek gave Fish checks payable to a religious charity that the rabbi then converted into cash to give back to Dwek, minus a 10 percent commission. Pollack and Weber acted as middlemen between Fish and Dwek, according to the filings.

Spira admitted to acting as middleman in similar transactions involving Dwek, Fish, and two other men including Deal, N.J., rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim. Ben Haim pleaded guilty in June to money laundering conspiracy and awaits sentencing.

Pollack, Weber and Spira were among 46 people arrested last year in the culmination of a federal investigation into money laundering and public corruption. Twenty-six people have pleaded guilty or been convicted, and one, Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, has been acquitted. Former state Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith is scheduled for trial at the end of the month.