NEW YORK
Chicago Tribune
By Jessica Dye
NEW YORK, June 21 (Reuters) – Four men were charged on Thursday with attempting to intimidate and bribe a teenage girl who is a witness in an upcoming sexual-assault trial, the first case resulting from a new task force to address witness tampering in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community.
According to an indictment, Abraham Rubin, 48, offered the alleged victim and her boyfriend $500,000 to recant testimony against Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed psychotherapist
awaiting trial on charges he repeatedly abused the girl, starting when she was 12 years old.
Another indictment unsealed on Thursday said Joseph, Jacob and Hertzka Berger attempted to pressure the girl and her boyfriend to stop cooperating with law enforcement. The brothers
allegedly told the boyfriend, who is also a witness in the case, that his restaurant would lose its kosher certification if he did not cave to their demands.
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