Head Of Lakewood School Guilty Of Money Laundering

TRENTON, NJ – The head of a Lakewood school for children with special needs was found guilty of money laundering and misconduct by a corporate official by a Middlesex County jury on Wednesday, the state attorney general's office announced.

Rabbi Osher Eisemann, 62, the founder and director of the School for Children with Hidden Intelligence, was found guilty of the two second-degree charges by a Middlesex County jury following a four-week trial before Superior Court Judge Benjamin S. Bucca Jr. The jury acquitted Eisemann of charges of first-degree corruption of public resources, second-degree theft by unlawful taking, and second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, Grewal's office said.

The school’s fundraising foundation, Services for Hidden Intelligence, LLC, was acquitted of all charges against it. Sentencing for Eisemann is scheduled for April 29; the second-degree charges carry sentences of 5 to 10 years in prison.

Eisemann was charged in an April 13, 2018 superseding indictment that was the result of an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, assisted by the Division of Criminal Justice Financial & Computer Crimes Bureau. The investigation began with a referral from the New Jersey Department of Education regarding SCHI’s financial practices.

In connection with the money laundering charge of which Eisemann was found guilty, the state presented testimony and evidence that Eisemann misappropriated $200,000 in school funds that he used in a money laundering scheme designed to make it appear that he used personal funds to repay debts he owed to SCHI.

The state also presented testimony and evidence at trial that between 2011 and 2015, Eisemann used the fundraising foundation to misappropriate $779,000 in operating funds from SCHI, specifically, public tuition monies entrusted to the school to educate special needs children. The state argued that he used those funds for various personal purposes unrelated to SCHI. Eisemann was found guilty of the second charge, misconduct by a corporate official, because he used a corporation, Services for Hidden Intelligence, LLC, to facilitate criminal activity. That count incorporated all of the allegations in the indictment.

"The mission of our Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is to ensure that persons who hold positions of public trust are held accountable if they betray that trust and engage in misconduct," Grewal said. "This verdict achieves that result and sends a strong deterrent message."

"With this verdict, we have ensured that Eisemann will face justice for engaging in criminal conduct involving funds from SCHI," said Thomas Eicher, director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. "I commend the trial team and all of the investigators for securing this verdict in a highly complex case."

Deputy Attorneys General Anthony J. Robinson and John Nicodemo tried the case for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. They were assisted at trial by Analyst Nathalie Kurzawa.

Attorney General Grewal thanked the Department of Education for its referral and assistance.

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