NEW JERSEY
Press-Telegram
By Sean Carlin, Associated Press
POSTED: 02/19/15
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A co-defendant told undercover FBI agents looking for a divorce that a fellow rabbi on trial for allegedly torturing men into granting divorces was a “hired hand.”
Mendel Epstein is accused of using a kidnap team to force Jewish men to divorce their wives. His attorney, Robert Stahl, disputes the charges and says Epstein is a “champion of women’s rights.”
On Thursday, prosecutors played recordings made by FBI agents posing as a brother and sister trying to obtain a divorce from the sister’s husband.
The other rabbi is heard saying that Epstein could be a “hired hand” to help them. Epstein speaks with the agents later that day and agrees to meet them.
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