Former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger was convicted Monday of bribery and tax fraud committed while he was in office, under a plea bargain he signed last week. The Jerusalem District Court also found Metzger guilty of interfering with the trial process. The defense and prosecution agreed that Metzger would serve a prison sentence of three and a half years and pay the sum of 5 million shekels ($1.3 million) to cover his tax debt and a fine. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. According to the plea bargain, Metzger exploited his position as chief rabbi to accept bribes amounting to a total of 5 million shekels, as well as fraudulently accepting goods and services and cheating on his taxes. Metzger was accused of pocketing 3 million shekels ($800,000) of the bribe money and handing the rest over to his driver, who served as a courier for the criminal payouts. Some of the counts to which the former chief rabbi pleaded guilty refer to the "conversions scandal," in which Metzger took illicit favors from wealthy foreigners who wanted to convert to Judaism or asked his help in clarifying their Jewish status. Others stem from the "nonprofits scandal," in which Metzger and his driver worked to enlist donors to nonprofit organizations in return for a "fee" many times higher than the amounts donated on his recommendation.
