H eadlines
Former Temple Business Dean Convicted of Fraud
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
FORMER TEMPLE University
Fox School of Business Dean
Moshe Porat was convicted of
wire fraud and conspiracy to
commit wire fraud for using
false data to boost the school’s
national ranking.

Bala Cynwyd resident Porat,
74, conspired with statis-
tics professor Isaac Gottlieb
and Fox employee Marjorie
O’Neill, submitting false data
to the U.S. News and World
Report on the school’s online
MBA and part-time MBA
programs, according to the
Nov. 29 conviction. They
inflated the number of students
who had taken the Graduate
Management Admission Test,
the work experience of the
PMBA students and the number
of students enrolled part-time.

During the trial which began
on Nov. 10, Gottlieb and O’Neill
both plead guilty to conspiracy
charges separate from Porat’s
charges. The jury reached its
decision after less than an hour
of deliberation.

All three Fox employees
lost their jobs in 2018,
following the discovery of the
Housing Continued from Page 7
shuttle to local grocery stores,
doctor’s offices and malls.

On-site, it will offer a commu-
nity room, computer room,
lounges, offices and outdoor
space. The Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia is
organizing a heavily subsidized
lunch program.

“Serving those in need
remains a priority focus for
the Jewish Federation,” Jewish
Federation President and CEO
Michael Balaban said.

Federation Housing is
reserving 33 units for house-
holds whose incomes do not
exceed 50% of the area median.

10 DECEMBER 9, 2021
misrepresentations. Porat had
served as the business school’s
dean since 1996 and worked
at Temple University for more
than two decades before
becoming dean.

From 2015 to 2018, U.S.

News and World Report ranked
Fox’s OMBA program No. 1 in
the U.S. The PMBA program
peaked at a No. 7 ranking in
2017. The OMBA program now
rests at No. 100. These rankings
are desirable markers for
prospective students.

“We live in a time where a
lot of applicants and parents of
applicants — for higher educa-
tion — look to the rankings to
help them make a determina-
tion of where to go to school,”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark
Dubnoff said.

To Dubnoff’s knowledge, this
case is the first time a university
administrator was criminally
prosecuted for ranking fraud.

“It’s a traditional fraud
case in the sense that you have
somebody who made misrep-
resentations in order to get
money,” Dubnoff said. “In some
senses, it’s a non-traditional
case, because we’re not aware
of other cases that were brought
up in the context of higher
education in the rankings.”
This case has the potential to
deter other university admin-
istrators from committing
similar crimes, Dubnoff said,
which is important due to the
steep tuition students pay to
attend master’s programs.

“These are incredibly expen-
sive investments that people
make,” he said. “It’s important
to protect people from people
who would defraud them.”
Media outlet Poets & Quants
reported a 57% increase in
enrollment in Fox’s OMBA
program during the program’s
inflated ranking period.

OMBA student Ibrahim
Fetahi testified in federal court
that Fox’s high rank compelled
him to apply for the OMBA
program. “I paid for fine dining, and
I got McDonald’s,” Fetahi said.

Following the report of the
falsifications in 2018, former Fox
OMBA students filed a class-ac-
tion lawsuit against the school,
claiming their degrees had been
devalued. Temple University
paid $5 million in settlements
for that lawsuit, in addition
to $17 million in additional
settlements and $700,000
to the federal Department of
Education. “This was not a victimless
crime,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer
Arbittier Williams said during
the April indictment announce-
ment. “The victims are students,
graduates and donors to the Fox
School as well as other universi-
ties and their students who were
cheated out of their legitimate
rankings.” Temple University affirmed
its commitment to “student-cen-
tered education” in a statement
following the conviction.

“We respect the justice
system and the jury’s decision
in this matter,” Temple
University Associate Director
of Issues Management in
Strategic Marketing and
Communications Steve
Orbanek said. “The evidence
presented at the trial speaks for
itself, but is not representative
of Temple or the overwhelming
majority of the thousands of
educational professionals
serving our students. This is
an unhappy moment for our
students and alumni, but our
focus remains on delivering the
best possible outcomes for our
students.” Porat received his under-
graduate degree and MBA
from Tel Aviv University and
his doctorate from Temple.

He was active in several local
Six of those will be for people
whose incomes do not exceed
20%. The remaining 21 will be
for residents who do not bring in
more than 60%.

Federation Housing is
revitalizing blighted property,
Naftulin said. Before, the site
had six single-family homes that
were boarded up.

“We took up the worst part of
the block,” Naftulin said.

He also said that older,
often-retired residents help the
local economy. They have time
to go out for meals and errands.

All they need is transportation
access, which they will have.

“We’re trying to embed
ourselves in the community,”
he said.

That statement doesn’t just
apply to the economy, either.

In other senior communities
built by Federation Housing,
residents have used their time to
help schools.

Samuel A. Green House
building tenants in Elkins Park
have a pen pal program with
Perelman Jewish Day School
students. That gives seniors
something important to do and
kids access to older perspectives
and life experiences, Naftulin said.

Perhaps most importantly,
though, Annabel Gardens will
give families peace of mind.

People won’t have to worry about
their parents or grandparents
becoming lonely and detached,
he said.

“Mom or dad lives in a
place that is affordable and has
services,” Naftulin said. “They
aren’t sitting alone in an apart-
ment staring out the window.”
That, according to Naftulin,
is Federation Housing’s core
mission: helping people enjoy
their golden years, instead of
going to facilities where “no one
wants to go,” he said.

Naftulin noted that while
the Lindy family was the lead
donor for Annabel Gardens, the
Pennsylvania Housing Finance
Agency, Montgomery County
and The Harry and Jeanette
Weinberg Foundation also
contributed. Federation Housing runs
11 rental communities serving
about 1,500 area seniors. The
agency is a partner of the Jewish
Federation. JEWISH EXPONENT
Moshe Porat
Courtesy of Temple University
Fox School of Business
Jewish organizations and was
listed as a board member of
the America-Israel Chamber of
Commerce in his Temple bio.

In June 2016, Hillel of Greater
Philadelphia honored Porat
for his campus leadership and
advocacy for Israel.

Porat could face up to 25 years
in prison and a $500,000 fine.

After the March 11 sentencing
hearing, Porat will likely lose his
position as a tenured professor,
where he earns $316,000
annually, Billy Penn reported.

Porat’s attorney Michael A.

Schwartz did not respond to
requests for comment. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
“We are grateful to Alan,
Elaine and Frank Lindy for
making it possible for 54 seniors
to live independently and with
dignity in Annabel Gardens,”
Balaban said. “A beautiful space
named in honor of their mother.”
Annabel Flesher Lindy
served on the board of Jewish
Federation in addition to the
board of Federation Housing.

Late in life, she created Tribe 12,
a local nonprofit that connects
young Jews to Jewish life.

Annabel Gardens will reflect
the life of service of its namesake,
Alan Lindy said.

“It’s a classy apartment
community,” he said. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
ISRAELBRIEFS Study: Tel Aviv the World’s Most Expensive City
TEL AVIV IS NOW the world’s most expensive city
to live in — and it’s tied in part to Israel’s successful
COVID-19 vaccine rollout, JTA reported.

The city rose from fifth to first in the annual
Worldwide Cost of Living index compiled by the
Economist Intelligence Unit, the research arm of
The Economist Group, which also publishes The
Economist magazine.

The report said that Israel’s world-leading pace in
vaccinating its population helped the shekel to soar
in value against the U.S. dollar, leading to steep local
inflation. The price of about one out of every 10 everyday
goods found in Tel Aviv, especially grocery items,
“increased significantly,” the report said. Tel Aviv is
also the world’s second-most expensive place to buy
alcohol and public transportation. Higher prices for
household goods, cars and fuel were noted as well.

After Tel Aviv, the other cities in the top five were
Paris, Singapore, Zurich and Hong Kong.

“It should be a given — the rights to a woman’s
body are the woman’s alone,” Nitzan Horowitz told
Ynet. “Any decision or medical procedure such as
the choice of whether to perform an abortion must
be in the hands of the woman. We have no moral
right to decide for her how to deal with an unwanted
pregnancy.” Horowitz, who heads the left-wing Meretz Party,
wants to allow women to terminate a pregnancy
within its first 12 weeks without committee approval.

While abortions are legal in many cases in Israel,
women seeking an abortion must present their
reasons for ending the pregnancy before a committee
of three people in several circumstances.

The plans also call for transferring responsi-
bility for some abortions to health clinics instead of
hospitals. All changes are subject to Knesset approval.

“I am proud to bring an international football
championship to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital,” Steve
Leibowitz, president of American Football in Israel
and head of Israel’s organizing committee said before
the event. “Israel has tackled its COVID-related
challenges and is ready to provide a safe, exciting
championship venue.”
Average Salaries in Israel Climb 2.9%
The average gross salary in Israel in September was
$3,863, an increase of 2.9% from September 2020,
although slightly down from August 2021, according
to Central Bureau of Statistics data, Globes reported.

The “information technology communications”
sector had the highest wages with an average salary
of $8,335, followed by the “electricity and water
supply sewage services and waste treatment” sector
at $6,472.

High-tech salaries have jumped more than 8%
Israel Hosts Flag Football World Championships over the past year. l
Israel hosted 39 teams from 21 countries as part of
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
the 10th Flag Football World Championship during a
three-day tournament, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli Health Minister Wants to Increase
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Both men’s and women’s teams competed for
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and officials gathered for the event.

abortion process, JTA reported.

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