Israeli Education Ministry Sues Ashkelon Kollel Over Alleged Large-Scale Enrollment Fraud🤯
The Israeli Ministry of Education has filed a major lawsuit against a kollel in Ashkelon, alleging what officials describe as one of the largest fraud cases ever uncovered in a Torah study institution.
According to the lawsuit published by Tuvia Yagelnik on the Galei Tzahal radio station, the nonprofit claimed to the ministry that 648 married yeshiva students and seminary students were enrolled, while in reality only several dozen were actually studying there. Through the false reports, the kollel allegedly received millions of shekels in state funding. Court documents indicate that between 2012 and 2022, the organization received more than 40 million shekels based on the reported student numbers.
The alleged fraud was exposed in 2022 during a covert inspection, when investigators found only a few dozen students on site. They reported that the relatively small building, which the organization claimed housed six separate Torah institutions, included billiards and ping-pong tables in the shelter area and kindergartens on the ground floor. On the second and third floors, there was space for at most about 100 people, with only several dozen kollel students present. Investigators also found that the yeshiva the organization had reported to the ministry did not exist at all.
According to testimony gathered during the investigation, the alleged scheme involved fictitious student registrations, with students reportedly returning part of their stipends in cash to the association.
At this stage, the ministry is seeking around 3 million shekels from the organization, representing funds transferred at the beginning of 2022 during the inspection period. Officials say there is reasonable basis to believe the alleged method had been in use for years prior.
Journalist Tuvia Yagelnik described the case as “only the tip of the iceberg of a large industry of fictitious reporting involving yeshiva students in the chareidi community.”
