Fast Forward

Florida Man Targeted Orthodox Jews In $3 Million Ponzi Scheme

Prosecutors say Shayeh Dov targeted the Jewish community in a $3 million Ponzi scheme. Image by Broward County Sheriffs Office

By Josefin Dolsten August 5, 2019

(JTA) — A Florida man targeted Orthodox Jews as part of a Ponzi scheme that cost his marks $3 million in losses.

Shayeh Dov, 49, is facing up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for his involvement in the fraudulent investment scheme that he ran from 2012-2018 and involved more than 30 people, The Sun Sentinel reported. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud last year and will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Dov, of North Miami Beach, sold mortgage notes that he did not own and were not for sale and sometimes sold the same notes to multiple people, court records say. Instead of using the money as promised, he spent it on gambling, renting luxury cars and paying for trips to the Bahamas, Israel and New York, according to The Sun Sentinel.

Court documents say he took advantage of the close-knit Orthodox community in Southern Florida and “almost exclusively” targeted its members.

“Dov exploited the community’s close bonds of trust and piety to obtain money for fraudulent investments,” records say, according to The Sun Sentinel.

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO