NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Two New Jersey men have been charged with kidnapping a third man in an attempt to force him to grant his wife a religious divorce.
The U.S. attorney’s office says David Aryeh Epstein and Chaim Baruch Rubin lured the victim from Brooklyn to Lakewood in November 2009 for a job opportunity. A few days later, several men allegedly tied him up, put him in a van and beat him and shocked him with a stun gun.
Epstein and Rubin made court appearances in Trenton Thursday afternoon and were released on $500,000 bail under home detention.
Epstein’s attorney didn’t return a message seeking comment. Rubin’s attorney could be not be reached Thursday.
Ten people were charged last fall with similar crimes in an FBI sting. Four have since pleaded guilty.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.