Former CEO of New York's Hatzala pleads guilty to $9 million fraud

April 23, 2014   

David Cohen, the former CEO of the Municipal Council for Jewish Poverty and the organization Hatzala, pleaded guilty today (Wednesday) to charges of theft, money laundering, bribery and a massive fraud of approximately $9 million from insurance companies. A press release issued by the New York State Attorney General's Office said that Cohen, 70, admitted that he also accepted $650,000 in bribes and payments for personal expenses. Cohen, who is expected to be sentenced to four and a half years in prison, will be sentenced on July 9. Cohen resigned from his position as CEO of Hatzala in September 2013, following allegations and suspicions of fraud. Cohen's partner in the fraud, William Rapfogel, He admitted to helping steal the money from the insurance companies. Rapfogel faces a sentence, if convicted, of between three and 10 years in prison.