The 19 charities all had buzzwords in their names intended to appeal to Jews eager to help Israel — including Hatzalah, a reference to the volunteer ambulance service primarily serving Jewish communities, and Zaka, a reference to the organization that assists victims of terrorist attacks.

But Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York State, charged on Thursday that the operators of the charities “brazenly abused the generosity of the public” by withdrawing more than $2.5 million for their personal and family expenses from 2007 to 2013. He said the expenses included home mortgages, the remodeling of a second home, car loans, dentist visits, video rentals and a trip to the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City.

Only a small amount of the donated money actually wound up in Israel. The defendants even bounced at least 2,100 checks, and wasted $65,000 of charitable donations in overdraft fees, the attorney general charged.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, principally named Yaakov Weingarten, 52, a resident of the Midwood neighborhood. It also accused his wife, Rivka, 52, and two of Mr. Weingarten’s employees, Simon Weiss, 28, and David Yifat, 66, of involvement in the scheme.