Los Angeles treif scandal • Meat marketing company - deceived public

Storm in the haredi community in Los Angeles: on Erev Pesach it was revealed that a haredi kosher lemehadrein meat marketing company sold treif meat.

Just before Pesach it turned out that for several years the local community consumed dubious meat which they sold as kosher meat, which is suspected of being actually treif.

The scandal affair reminds of the butcher Moshe Finkel in Monsey, about a decade ago.

According to what was published, the one who provided these meats was a haredi Jew who heads Dohemy, a marketing company that provides kosher meat in supermarkets and stores in California and elsewhere.

The company is a wholesale supplier of kosher products to dealers, restaurants and catering. The company also has a branch in the retail market Fiksh Avenue in Los Angeles, where they sell directly to customers.

It is suspected that the company began to deceive the public and sell meat which is suspected as non-kosher, already in 2010, which empowers the suspicion that for three years dubious meat was sold to the public.

Los Angeles does not have a local slaughterhouse and thus shopkeepers purchase meat products from outside companies who in turn purchase them from slaughterhouses and recognized meat factories throughout the United States. Rabbis in Los Angeles spread out their wings on this project and give it the kosher certification on behalf of the community.

The affair exploded on Sunday evening. The one who exposed it was one of the workers who fell out with the company management. The employee contacted the rabbis and told them that the Haredi company owner purchases meat from different sources, packs them again and pins on fake labels and holograms of kosher lemehadrin slaughterhouses which are well known and reputable, from which the Haredi public purchases throughout the United States.

The rabbis were terrified by the information, but before giving out an announcement about it and removing the kashrus, they sought to research the details carefully.

A private investigator was sent by the rabbis of Los Angeles, posed as supervisor from the Orthodox community, equipped with a hidden camera and recorded what went on there and confirmed the information provided by the employee. It should be noted that the company purchased meat both from kosher sources as well from questionable sources, and therefore it is difficult to clearly know which products eventually reached the shops. It was immediately decided to remove the kosher certification from the company and that one should no longer purchase its meat products.

Meanwhile, great panic was caused in Los Angeles. The public which had already prepared for Pesach and bought large quantities for the holiday, did not know what to do. Surprisingly, the rabbinical council of the community in Southern California convened and determined that all meat sold until 3:00 PM in stores, before removing the kosher certification, may be used.

The rabbis used a variety of reasons to be meikel, in light of the fact that it is Erev Yomtov and one can not now organize new meat shipments. The rabbis argued inter alia that as mentioned, it is not known for sure whether the shops received treif meat, or whether it was marketed to other areas, one can rely on the kashrus they offered, until the hour mentioned. From now on, one should not purchase products of this company.

The sensational affair also won extensive echoes in the general media, which reported the largest kashrus scam, which again involved a haredi man. In addition, the Satmar Rebbe mentioned it in horror in his drosha during chol hamoed, to Satmar chassidim in Williamsburg.

The community management is now considering to file a complaint against the company with the police for fraud and forgery. It is likely that after the drama created, it will have to close its doors.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!