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Top Pinto Aide Connected to Bootlegged Porn

Rabbi’s adviser and translator moved DVDs from Montreal

by
Marc Tracy
April 07, 2011
LeBron James (L) and Rabbi Pinto (R).(TMZ)
LeBron James (L) and Rabbi Pinto (R).(TMZ)

New Rabbi Pinto news! You may remember that Rabbi Yishayahu Yosef Pinto, the Hebrew-speaking scion of a prominent Moroccan rabbinical family, is a spiritual adviser to the stars (including LeBron James) and extremely sketchy businessman. Today, the Forward‘s Josh Nathan-Kazis reports that Pinto’s “right-hand man,” a 33-year-old Israeli named Ben Zion Suky, used to have a business selling a Montreal company’s bootlegged movies. And by movies, we’re talking about pornography; specifically, “catalog titles,” as opposed to recent releases. Hey, if you haven’t seen it, I guess it’s new to you?

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.