An FBI agent stands guard as evidence sits in the trunk of a vehicle at the Brooklyn residence of Rabbi Mendel Epstein during an investigation, early in Oct. 10, 2013, in New York.
Two New York rabbis and a group of men known as the “kidnap team” were denied bail in a Trenton court Thursday after being accused of charging Orthodox women up to $50,000 to abduct and beat their husbands to force them to consent to a religious divorce.
Divorce in the Orthodox communities requires the husband’s permission, known as a “get,” to be recognized. While the New York Times reports that rabbis commonly bar reluctant husbands from synagogue involvement to compel their consent, Rabbi Mendel Epstein is charged with taking it to the next level. He allegedly charged wives $10,000 for rabbinical permission to abuse their own husbands and $50,000 to hire a team to do the job themselves, often taking them to New Jersey, tying them up, and shocking them with Tasers and stun guns.
“I guarantee you that if you’re in the van, you’d give a get to your wife,” Rabbi Epstein reportedly told an undercover FBI agent posing as a female agent’s brother in a sting operation. “You probably love your wife, but you’d give a get when they finish with you.” The female agent was posing as a wife in need of a divorce. Lawyers for Epstein declined comment to the Times.
United States attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman told the New York Times that investigators “uncovered evidence” of a few dozen victims.