US News

RABBI GUILTY IN TAX RIP-OFF

A Brooklyn rabbi yesterday pleaded guilty in an $8.5 million tax scam that involved charities run by the Spinka Hasidic sect.

Grand Rabbi Naftali Tzi Weisz, 61, admitted conspiring to solicit donations that were mostly kicked back to the contributors.

The scheme allowed the “donors” to take tax deductions for the full amounts of their phony gifts — while skimming nearly $750,000,

The rabbi is to be sentenced Nov. 16 in Los Angeles, where the kickbacks were handed out. He faces up to five years behind bars.