Leib Glanz, Former Rikers Chaplain, Pleads Out to Housing Fraud

A genius at gaming the system until recently, Leib Glanz, the former Rikers Island chaplain cut loose for organizing a bar mitzvah party in a jail, and his brother, Menashe, pleaded guilty today to housing fraud, theft and lying in federal court in Manhattan.

Federal prosecutors say the two men defrauded government of $225,000 in section 8 housing subsidy money. In the scheme, Menashe Glanz got a section 8 apartment for his brother under false pretenses. Leib Glanz lived in the apartment from 1996 to 2011. Each man has agreed to pay fines. Leib Glanz faces up to one year in prison. Menashe Glanz faces up to 10 years.

Glanz, a jails chaplain for nine years, last hit the news in 2009 when he was caught arranging a party for Orthodox Jewish inmates being held in the Tombs in downtown Manhattan. He and three city jail officials who authorized these hijinks resigned over the scandal. He also arranged an engagement party and toted in snacks and movies for Jewish inmates to watch. A newspaper also caught him using a fire department parking placard that claimed he was an active firefighter.

In December, the city conflict of interest Board fined him $2,500 for accepting a silver wine glass and decorative plate from an inmate's family for arranging the bar mitzvah.