A rabbi in Toronto, Avraham David, was just arrested for fraud. Turns out the fraud, to the tune of 25,000 immigration applications at a few of $30,000 each, does not even include the fact that he was not actually a rabbi or even Jewish! Rabbi Avraham David's real name is Earl Seth David and for years ran a law firm in Manhattan through which he committed his immigration fraud. David had taken the identity of a religious Jew named Avraham David  who had moved away from new York, and adopted th identity.

David as a rabbi seemed to be involved in Torah codes. According to The Globe and Mail (the other articles I read deal more with the fraud and little about David's background as a rabbi):

At his home in a largely Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in North York, Rabbi Avraham David lived the life of a scholar, writing treatises on the Torah and indulging his passion for numerology. He said a code within the holy texts contained everything from predictions on current events to a recipe for an oil that could cure male pattern baldness. Mr. David had written a book on the topic and, for a small fee, would also interpret people’s dreams.
[...]
In online postings, Mr. David said he was the scion of a dynasty of Hassidic Jewish leaders. Among his ancestors, he wrote, were Moshe Langner and Solomon Langner, a prominent Orthodox rabbi in Toronto during the mid-20th century at the Kiever Shul in Kensington Market.
[...]
From Toronto, Mr. David continued to sell his 2003 Torah book, Code of the Heart, gave interviews on numerology and penned missives on the hidden meanings within weekly Torah portions. He kept a pet parrot and became involved with a small Orthodox congregation downtown.


Online, he commented on current affairs, writing that last year’s earthquake in Haiti was a sign that Israel should “take heed and be fearful” and criticizing a Jewish blogger for writing about crimes committed by Jews.


Just three months ago, Mr. David bought a half-million-dollar house near Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue on a street of well-appointed, detached brick homes. The property is registered to him and Salome Fernandez Palomo. A woman who answered the phone at the home Wednesday evening hung up immediately.

Any of you Torontonians know him or more about this?