Marlboro, NJ - Rabbi Indicted in Thefts from Charitable Account

Marlboro, NJ - Rabbi Peter Light, the former leader of the Marlboro Jewish Center, was arrested after a Monmouth County grand jury indicted him on a charge of stealing $86,000 from the coffers of Congregation Ohev Shalom.

The board of trustees at the Jewish center, had urged the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office to investigate Light, after it conducted its own internal review of how money in the rabbi's discretionary fund was used.
The discretionary fund, made up largely of donations, is used when a congregant in an unexpected crisis approaches the rabbi for help. It is loosely monitored and set up specifically so a congregant can work one-on-one with the rabbi and keep personal problems from becoming common knowledge, members said.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, Light was the sole signatory for the account, and could disburse the funds as he saw fit.

"The criminal conduct of Rabbi Light not only depleted the Marlboro Jewish Center's charitable account, but also stole the trust the congregation had unequivocally bestowed on this man when he was hired to lead their community," Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said in a prepared release. "This defendant fraudulently obtained money specifically designated to help others and used it for his own selfish purposes."