2010, a reception held for Pinto was attended by an Israel Defense Forces major general and five cabinet members. In January 2011, Pinto met with opposition leader Israeli politician Tzipi Livni in Tel Aviv. In December 2010, Pinto condemned an open letter endorsed by 50 Israeli rabbis which encouraged Jewish community members to avoid renting or selling property to non-Jews. Pinto believed that the letter would provoke racism against Jews in Israel and abroad, making it difficult for them "to live in New York or anywhere else in the world". Legal problems In September 2011, Pinto's father-in law, the chief Rabbi of Argentina, Shlomo Ben Hamo, retracted accusations of money laundering against Pinto in the Jerusalem District Court. The father-in-law said the retraction was "part of an arrangement made for legal reasons and to preserve domestic tranquility". Under the terms of the agreement, Pinto was required to pay NIS 3.4 million for two apartments purchased by his father-in-law, in the Gold housing complex in Jerusalem, with funds that were allegedly obtained from Pinto. On October 12, 2012 Pinto was reported to be under investigation for money laundering. He was released on bail and placed under house arrest for a bribery attempt of an Israeli police official involved in the investigation. On September 17, 2014, Pinto was indicted on charges of attempting to bribe Ephraim Bracha of the Israeli national police in an attempt to gain information about the ongoing investigation of the financial activities of Hazon Yeshaya, a charitable organization Pinto heads. Bracha had reported the bribery attempt to his superior, Maj. Gen. Yoav Segalovich, and was ordered by Segalovich to pretend to accept the bribe. In February 2015, the Supreme Court upheld Pinto's plea agreement under which he would serve a maximum of one year in jail and become a state witness. He returned to Israel on April 14, and pleaded guilty the next day to bribing Bracha. Judge Oded Mudrick found him guilty of bribery, attempted bribery, and obstruction of justice. Bracha, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, committed suicide on July 5, 2015 after being subjected to a prolonged campaign of defamation. Pinto was sentenced on May 12, 2015, to one year in prison, and must pay a fine of 1 million shekels. Appeals of the prison sentence on the basis of ill health were declined on January 5 and February 8, 2016. He arrived at prison