Dec.22, 2009, 10:26

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Weisz, the Brooklyn-based Grand Rebbe of the Spinka sect, was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for a decade-long fraud and money-laundering scheme.

Weisz, 61, had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter in Los Angeles last August.

Weisz and six associates in Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Israel admitted to participating in a fraudulent kickback scheme in which donors to Spinka charities were refunded up to 95 percent of their donations, while claiming the full amounts as deductions on their income tax.

In 2006, Spinka charities received nearly $8.5 million in donations and made $744,596 in "profits," after deducting amounts paid back to contributors.