Tyler Oliveira released a 55-minute video just before Yom Kippur accusing Orthodox schools of draining E-Rate, the federal internet subsidy for schools. It opens in New Square. Yeshiva World News and Matzav reported it near 10 million views. Yeshiva World News, relaying Ynet, called it antisemitic.
What he claims
According to Ynet's account of the video, Oliveira says:
10 companies serve 77 Jewish institutions, and one person's name shows up in records tied to nine of them.
93.7% of 633 bidding processes drew one bid or none.
About $43 million was requested since 2017, more than $15 million received, and $5.7 million is pending.
He concedes a single bid is not proof of fraud. No one has been charged on any of his new allegations.
What the record shows
The documented case is smaller. Richard Bernstein, 71, a consultant whose companies, E-Rate Consulting LLC and E-Rate Management Solutions Inc., are based in Woodmere, pleaded guilty January 22, 2026 in Brooklyn federal court to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said he took more than $100,000 in kickbacks tied to E-Rate and a COVID-era connectivity fund. He agreed to forfeit $137,576.64. No sentencing date has been reported.
In 2018, seven Orthodox defendants pleaded guilty in a separate $14 million E-Rate fraud.
Where the money went
The Technology Policy Institute's E-Rate Explorer, built on USAC disbursement data, shows five-year totals for 2021 to 2025, with recent years still filling in:
United Talmudical Academy (14 sites): $2.4 million
Bnei Tzion: $1.3 million
Mosdos Satmar: $960,000
UTA of Boro Park: $951,000
Bais Ruchel D'Satmar: $937,000
Those numbers are disbursements, not proof of anything. E-Rate exists to wire poor schools, and many yeshivas serve very poor families.
What we are checking
Kol America is pulling USAC's own records on commitments, disbursements and service providers for New Square, Kiryas Joel and Williamsburg applicants. We will publish what they show, whichever way it cuts.
How we reported this: from Ynet's description of the video as relayed by Yeshiva World News, the Justice Department's Bernstein release, and the Technology Policy Institute's E-Rate Explorer. We could not yet reach USAC's open data directly. Schools and vendors who want to respond: [email protected].