A few years ago, Solomon Dwek was the black sheep of the New Jersey Jewish community where his father Yitzhak was a prominent rabbi. After a string of failed real estate ventures and charges of bank fraud, Dwek’s career appeared all but over. But the rabbi’s son found his true calling as an FBI informant, where he is now achieving stardom after helping bring indictments against 44 defendants, including a number of prominent rabbis, four ex-mayors and a former senator, in one of the largest money-laundering and corruption investigations seen in the U.S. in years.
Among the big fish scooped up in the arrest is the new mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey Peter Cammarano, who along with a number of local civic leaders met with Dwek for lunch this past April, where the failed real-estate man implored them to help “expedite” his business ventures.
During their meal, Cammarano promised Dwek he “could trust in him” and shortly thereafter the two met in the parking lot where Dwek handed the soon-to-be mayor an envelope with $5,000 cash and a message for one of Cammarano’s confidants. All the while, Cammarano and his co-conspirators had no idea that the quiet, skullcap-wearing real estate man across the table was the central FBI informant in an investigation that would make the front pages of papers from New York to Tel Aviv.
With his back against the wall, and working as an FBI informant in order to dodge white-collar charges, Dwek managed to “launder” $3 million in funds from Brooklyn, New York and New Jersey municipal officials.
Three years ago, Dwek was caught trying to pass a fraudulent check for $25 million at an FNC branch in New Jersey. He was charged with bank fraud and promptly declared bankruptcy. For Dwek, working for the FBI would be a way to save himself from a lengthy jail sentence. For the FBI, this failed real estate man would prove himself to be a more than successful informant.
In spite of his central role in building one of the largest corruption and money-laundering cases in years, it’s not certain how rosy Dwek’s future will be. After selling nearly 350 of his 400 properties for a sum of around $30 million, Dwek has still not come close to covering his debts, which stand at hundreds of millions of dollars.
A leader of a prominent Jewish organization told Haaretz this week that in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal, photos of rabbis in handcuffs splashed across the front pages of publications such as the New York Times serve only to harm the community, but that it was time to accept the fact that “a criminal is a criminal, whether he wears a kippa or not”.
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No, the worst part is the Chillul Hashem (profaning G-d)casued by the actions of these orthodox Jews. "They got one bad apple, they all stink" mentality" exists in YOUR mind and is part of the problem. Do you think when the NY Times had hundreds of articles on priests molesting boys, that a Catholic would be justified in saying that the NY Times lusts after Anti-catholic stories?
Why do you think frum Jews should get a pass? AND yes, I am frum living in Brooklyn.
Somehow I get the feeling that the author of this article blames only Dweck for becoming the informant, betraying 'his own'. Yet she passes no judgement on the corrupt rabbis who used non-profit organizations to launder money through, who committed true crime. Solomon Dweck is a crook, without a doubt, and he did what crooks do. However, the rabbis who know too well, and probably even teach, the Ethics of our Fathers show such a blatant disregard to morals! I am not sure whether the Orthodox community can ever recover from such a fiasco! And I am not a fan of the Forward and J-Street 'party line', either.
Mr. Dwek is another enemy of the National Community, like Madoff, for whom execution would be an appropriate punishment. As an Orthodox Sephardic Jew I am embarrassed by their behaviour and wonder, as Allie has, how we can move forward from this mess.
Unfortunately, a case of "deja vu":
Not very long ago a prominent member of a California orthodox comunity became an FBI informant of a mmoney laundering scheme involving Brooklyn charities and rabbis
(signed) Ad
Judaism needs excommunication of these transgressers. Remember five orthodox Vienese - who attended in Iranian holocaust denial - were excommuniced by the Vienese Jewish Community Rabinical leadership. Isn't it time to establish a similiar rule here in the USA?
For purposes of section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code, rabbis and cantors are considered by the IRS and the courts to be "ministers of the gospel." This means that the rabbis and cantors, like Christian ministers, exclude from their income the housing allowance provided by the synagogue, yeshiva, or other employer. Only clergy get the benefits of the section 107 income tax exclusion. And yet that is not enough of a tax benefit. In 1986 the Congress enacted a special law, under rabbis and ministers also get income deductions for their mortgage interest and property taxes, despite the fact that the mortgage interest and property taxes are paid using the tax-exempt section 107 allowance.
If these rabbi's are guilty of the trangressions that they are accused of its an absolute disgrace, but I have been brought up with the understanding that a Jew does not do to another Jew what Solomon Dwek has done. This really makes him Solomon Drek.
it wld be useful to know how many 'jews' also are allegient to their peculiar 'quality' called "jewishness" and torahic commnand to have servants and not to serve anyone?
ashk'c are mostly whites and composed of mnany euro nationalities; thus, genetically, russians, khazars, ukes, poles, germans, letts, et al. the 'quality' of "jewishness", a peculiar sense of superiority, is their nationality.
shephardic and mizrahic peoples, being mostly arabo-shemitic and of 'tainted' skin, are ashk'c untermensch; i.e., cannon fodder for preservation of an israel. oh my dear devil, what mess have you wrought?tnx
In the wake of the strangely analogous Madoff "atrocity", the Jewish community needs this PR like a "loch in kopf!"
Two things occur to me about this article and the circumstances behind it. The first is the appalling fact that Mr. Dwek implicated so many Rabbis as part of what appears to be a "plea bargain sting" arrangement with the FBI. He appears to be culpable for "tempting" the Rabbis to sin - an even more grievous sin than theirs - and one that is not even subject to Teshuvah (e.g., per the Rambam)!
Secondly, this collection of Rabbis should really should lose their ordinations for such a heinous desecration of the Holy Name and violation of the sanctity of their ostensible "calling." Lacking a Sanhedrin (until Moshiach arrives - speedily in our days), there is no Bet Din with enough authority to chastise these errant Rabbis to the extent they deserve. The wheels of secular justice are in no way sufficient to give them their comeuppance. Lastly, It is certainly irrelevant to draw distinctions between Sephardim and Ashkenazim in this context. Doing so merely adds fuel to the fires of division within Judaism - which needs to be quelled, not exacerbated. You may recall that this was a factor in the destruction of the second Holy Temple - may it be rebuilt soon - a thought to keep in mind in the spirit of Tisha B'Av, which will soon be upon us.
To David Levy: Please note that I must correct your attempt at metaphorically describing the PR the Jewish community is presently getting: It should be "Loch im Kopf", since the language to which you are making reference starts its substantiv-type words with a capital letter, and "in dem Kopf" is always abbreviated as "im Kopf".... Please also note that---as an enlightened super academic---I must reject the notion of "sin". Our moral and ethical doctrines are nothing but arbitrary social conventions, and in conclusion thereof must any transgression of those social conventions (i.e., "sin")---and the subsequent convictions for said transgressions---amount to arbitrary convictions....Welcome to reality, my dear princes of mediocrity... I should, perhaps call the Federal Correction facility in Butner, to make sure that Bernie Madoff gets his three daily meals of Kosher food, "blessed" by some mindless and meaningless rabbi, until he is kicking the bucket....
for once, I agree with Sephardiman
I think the correct spelling is Solomon DRECK
Dear G-d,
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR PEOPLE?.....
to Dear G-d: That is a very good, but ill-fated question...The tribal god Yaweh is a mere fiction, invented by innocent but ignorant desert dwellers, perhaps in an honest attempt at explaining their physical and social environment. However, in this day and age, we do indeed understand as to how the universe has come into being (ex nihilo)---and how it continues to unfold---without the necessity to use the mythological crutches, invoked by these ignorant desert dwellers. In other words, the universe is INDIFFERENT to your question, because the target of that question is a mere fiction....
jew trash
Take note of the following rule: Never judge Judaism by its people, but only by the Torah. People make mistakes that doesn't mean Judaism or Orthodox Judaism is a mistake. This should never cross your mind. It is sad but time to move on.
if shits like hirsh says things like that-he is the one who dissicrating our Torah in all its wonders and glory----------------------------------simply what Dwek did is to try to clean some of the filth and dirt and expose those people pretending to be religious and using the Torah as their their cover and cloak as good guys when they are notnothing short of evil worms ,who brings the holy nation down,purely for their own selfish gratification--in short they are abhorant and causing so much harm to amm israel ...................................