Convicted Brooklyn Rabbi Loses in Court Appeal; Rabbi Balkany Tried to Scam $4M in Donations

The New York Post website reports that a Manhattan appeals court today (March 19, 2012) upheld the conviction of a crooked Brooklyn rabbi for trying to shake down billionaire Steve Cohen's hedge fund with phony allegations of inside trading.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Rabbi Milton Balkany's claim that jurors should have been allowed to consider if he was entrapped.

Balkany, 65, is currently serving four years in a federal prison in Miami for trying to scam $4 million in donations to his financially strapped Bais Yaakov Jewish girls' school.

Defense lawyer Paul Shechtman said, "Rabbi Balkany accepts the court's ruling."