Deal, NJ – Rise And Fall Of Dwek: From A Generous Man To FBI Informant

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    Deal, NJ – Solomon Dwek’s reputation in the West Long Branch area was built as much by his philanthropy as his real estate deals.

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    When 7-year-old Ryan Michael Saberon fell ill with cancer, Solomon Dwek became his friend. Dwek visited him weekly for a year, his father, Eugene G. Saberon, said.

    In early 1998, Ryan was in a hospital room at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, when he noticed a boy wearing a yarmulke in the bed next to him. He knew that meant the boy was Jewish, and told him he had learned in Christian Sunday school that the Jews were God’s chosen people.

    Rabbi Isaac Dwek visited the Jewish boy that day, and his son, Solomon, soon came into the room. The Dweks spoke with Ryan.

    Solomon then began visiting Ryan regularly, and the two had long conversations together about God, the Bible and Jewish tradition, Eugene Saberon recalled.

    “He would hear Ryan speak about God and heaven,” said Saberon, a Christian. “They talked good together. Solomon shared a lot of things with me about the Jewish religion. He lifted our spirits many times. The man helped me in many ways. He kept my hope up. He’s a remarkable man. Ryan loved him.”

    Solomon Dwek, 33, of Ocean Township, helped pay the hospital bills for the family, said Saberon, who has worked as a handyman and cook. He lived in Long Branch at the time but now lives in Middletown.

    In the final hours of Ryan’s life on Oct. 25, 1998, Dwek and another philanthropic businessman, Frank Muzzi, sat in the hospice room and comforted the family.

    Muzzi said the two “commiserated together” and sat with the family for two hours that night.

    Later, Muzzi and Dwek both paid money to defray the cost of the funeral. The donations were meant to be private, but Saberon’s thank you to both men was published in a weekly newspaper.

    Muzzi said he admired Dwek for his efforts to help the family.

    “I had a great deal of respect for a person who struck me as a caring individual,” Muzzi said. “It impressed me greatly because it was not something he did in the Jewish community. These were not Jewish people.”

    John Donato Jr., a local developer who has worked for and sold land to Dwek in recent years, said Dwek helped him get a new house to live in after he filed for bankruptcy on some of his businesses in the mid-1990s. Dwek gave him a $60,000 mortgage, land records confirm.

    “If this kid hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t be here today,” Donato said. “No one can ever say anything bad about him to me. I think he’s a hell of a guy. He’s not a bad person. I know him as a family man. He’s an honorable person.”

    Dwek was known to make other charitable donations, such as to Monmouth Medical Center and the Neptune-based Jersey Shore University Medical Center Foundation. In 2003, Dwek donated a granite monument in memory of Frank Caltabilota, the West Long Branch student killed in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University on Jan. 19, 2000. The monument is located in Valenzano Park on Wall Street in West Long Branch.

    Dr. Gabor Barabas, a neurologist whose avocation is producing plays at the Lumia Theater in Long Branch, said Dwek had given the theater $55,000 over the past seven years to pay for a new facade, renovations to a small side theater, and tickets for children to attend shows.

    Barabas said that in appreciation, the theater named the side stage the “Dwek Studio Theatre.”

    “I offered that. He did not ask for that. Solomon never asked for anything.”

    Among the Sephardic Jewish community, Dwek was revered, according to several members who spoke privately. They reported how he met with Yeshiva students after prayers and donated money to families in need.

    David Haber, 23, a student of the Deal Yeshiva, said in May that Dwek frequently wrote personal checks to help cash-strapped students and their families. Many yeshiva students do not work as they attend school. Dwek was vice president of the yeshiva until his arrest on federal bank fraud charges.

    “Many mornings, there are people waiting for him at the synagogue after prayers, asking for his help,” Haber said. “He is a very nice guy. He helps everybody. There is only good to say about him.”


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    66 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    question is as follows. The money that he was helping others with , was it kosher moneies or non kosher . If it was kosher then u have an argument, but if it was not kosher then any lowlife thief can also give stolen money and later take credit fior it.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    so why would he place the cheif sefardik rabbi in entrapment. to save his own??

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    there’s an old saying, if its not your money its very easy to give it out. if its ur hard-earned money you watch which charities you give it to.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Gotta love the Asbury Park Press.
    For two years they pilloried Drek anyway they could and used the most offensive pictures they could take and find on him when portraying him.
    My oh my just look what a little informing can do to rehabilitate him in the publishers eyes. All of a sudden after catching a few good fish (kosher fish of course) he’s the greatest most wonderful most charitable of all- couldn’t hurt a fly.
    The Asbury Park Press – the saddest excuse for an anti semitic paper the East coast has ever seen.

    koel
    koel
    14 years ago

    Speechless!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    A little good press never hoits.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I knew Solomon as such. In fact after his arrest in ‘06 I released a 6 digit figure (from our Attorney trust account) to Dwek from a deal gone dead to which Solomon had tied up money. I invited Solomon to every Simcha (hey Solomon is your email address still working?) and still in shock as I also know very well some of those that where arrested.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Yeah yeah dosent change a thing he is still a moser

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    A muser doesn’t have any cheilik in Olem Habo, so what’s the purpose of all these??

    Avrohom Abba
    Avrohom Abba
    14 years ago

    Let’s all undersatnd him. He was only trying to do the best…..for himself.

    isn't he a Ganov?
    isn't he a Ganov?
    14 years ago

    roboisay: can someone say something meaningful about this mamzer? the money was stolen money!! did we forget that he deposited a $25 million check that was not worth more than the paper it self, and thereby was charged with bank fraud? I can donate too $60,000, if i do it the way he did it? it was all gaganvata gelt. so what’s the big spheel with this article? he created 44 criminals here? i seriously don’t understand how any good thing can be said about this guy?

    chusid
    chusid
    14 years ago

    my feeling is that dwek is originally a super nice guy but unfortunately when it comes such a tough time you can’t judge a person CHAZAL SAYS AL TUDIN ES CHVEIRCHU AD SHTAGIA LIMKOIMI

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    ditto #13 . I still think he was and is a very nice person. I never met him, don’t know him at all, but, I can’t believe all the bad things being said about him. Who knows what really happened? Maybe he overextended himself and then got caught before he straughtened things out. I don’t think he was intentionally a crook, and I think maybe he was set up by the FBI.

    Think Tank
    Think Tank
    14 years ago

    It’s sad how low he sank. The fact that he likes to do good, doesn’t change or give any excuse for the terrible thing he did by entraping all those people.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Winston Churchill used to say any publicity is always good just make sure you spell my name correct

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Everyone does some good. Well, maybe not everyone, but remember the stories that Hitler yemach sh’mo was kind to animals?

    L’havdil, not to compare the two chas v’sholom, I’m sure Dwek did a lot of good over his lifetime. But G-d alone balances the scales & I have a hard time getting over his latest acts.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Why would VIN want to print a favorable article about dweck, when even his own family call him a despicable lowlife wiling to sarifice all those around him to save his miserable skin? We your readers are perplexed as to why you would do this?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    vin should not post anything good about this dog! he hurt so many homes and hearts. wow will this guy burn in hell.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    me’igra rama le’bira amikta…..
    Each of us is given a purposefully designed test fully orchestrated from above…
    We have no idea what each person needs to do as their mission(s) down here on earth….While it [seems] quite clear right now, facts may come out later that change everything…
    I’m not defending and I’m not prosecuting…just saying let’s stand by and watch the show. There is a reason for everything…
    for all we know, this could be the catalyst to get us all out of america and back home as part of the Geula….
    let’s keep our heads up and our eyes and ears open….the messages are coming a light speed these days

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Kol Hakovod to VIN for providing an alternative perspetive on Sholmoa Dwek and what a great baal tzadakah he was which makes the developments of the past few weeks an even greater tragedy. This doesn’t fully excuse his behavior but provides important mitigating circumstances.

    esther the 2nd
    esther the 2nd
    14 years ago

    There are rumours that the FBI is going to be charged for doing such a wrongdoing. It is one thing to catch one red handed but to nudge and coax, and set this whole thing up, to entrap you by this whole shpiel is not permitted for the FBI.
    I could believe that This Dwek could have started out a good man but then one transgression brings another etc.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    nebech! I’m being dan lchaf zchuz. dwek really is a tzadik! he helped so many ppl! how cud he have fallen so low? I guarantee u there’s another side to his story with the fbi but we r all unaware of it. noone knows y he did it . he might have been forced into it…or who knows? we don’t know yet but we will find out&im sure he has something to tell us ….i feel very bad for him even though I personally know very well some of the ppl arrested. I feel bad for both ends until I know wut really happened….

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Fromthe whole article, the most impressive “tzedakah” he gave was to renovate the “theater”… wow, what a baal tzedakah..

    Ari
    Ari
    14 years ago

    According to his own father, he was paying exorbitant interest. His father begged people not to give him money. He owes close to $400 million. He destroyed families way before he became a moser and entrapped innocent. He was forced to entrap. He set out to catch other innocent Rabbonim and try to save his own hide. If he would have snitched on his felloe criminals, that would have been one thing. But to entrap? This is the worst.

    As far as his tzadaka what a shame for all those that speak good about him. You can be a tzaddik but that gets washed away when you commit such a crime and aveiro. And believe me he was no tzaddik. His charity was at best a mitzvoh habo beaveiro which is oser lechol hadeios.These acts of charity is despised by Hashem and should be by us too. If someone wants to bring a korbon with stolen money, you cannot be makriv it.

    We need to stop glorifying these acts of kindness by such low life people. When Klal Yisroel will learn not to accept these monies and discard such despicable people from its midst, then maybe Moshiach will come.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    maybe after he was arrested in 06 he felt like nobobody stood by him?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    the gemara says that you cannot trust yourself till the day you die- maybe once upon a time he was good

    Reality Check
    Reality Check
    14 years ago

    The Yetzer Hora gets each of us in a different way.

    Some people are so obviously “good” that the yetzer horah has to trip them up with misconceptions of what “good” is. The Mishna says “K’nei Lecha Chaver”. A true friend is one who challenges you with the truth, and does not need your approval. It takes courage to maintain friendships with people who sometimes point out our shortcomings. When you are 100% sure that something is a good idea, because of all the tzedakka and mitzvos it will generate, you need to run it by an objective 3rd party who will not benefit from it.
    Nobody who is alive is exempt from being “nogaya b’davar”.
    If you have no yetzer hora, you should check your pulse!

    Addiction to approval has caused many well-intentioned people to make serious errors in judgement.
    Good intentions really do count by Hashem.
    But they don’t override halacha, which incidentally IS Hashem’s Own Ratzon!
    “Bribing” Hakadosh Baruch Hu is a form of fooling yourself.
    Ain Tzaddik Ba’aretz asher lo yechetah.
    If you think you are incapable of a sin, the yetzer horah has you exactly where he wants you.

    yoely sakmarar
    yoely sakmarar
    14 years ago

    I don’t understand why people are talking about his donations, imagine for a second how small of a story his donations are compared to the crime that he commited?
    if Chas Vashulam someone will kill a person close to your heart would you be intrested in some small donations he once made? would it say anything about him?
    here you have a guy that broke 44 familys, how are their children going to eat when their father sits chas vashulem in jail?
    this guy is a very low low guy and he will have a very hard time if he ever decides to do tshuva

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Many mornings, there are people waiting for him at the synagogue after prayers, asking for his help,” Haber said. “He is a very nice guy. He helps everybody. There is only good to say about him.”
    SO WAS ROBIN HOOD

    rabbi yitzchok
    rabbi yitzchok
    14 years ago

    Nothing justifies he brutal act.
    Our tzadikim let them selfs to be killed before massering on another fellow jewish brother.
    According to jewish law we are aloud to kill him as a din mosser.

    Moshe Kapoier
    Moshe Kapoier
    14 years ago

    Easy come, easy go.
    It’s all the same lack of “achrayus” (responsibility).
    Spend money steal money, act like Mr. Big, a symptom of our times when so-called Bnei Torah act like Mafia Godfathers.
    And he’s not the only one. Look around, you’ll find plenty, fast-talking generous guys, till they go down in flames.
    See Schick, David, Shereshevsky, Joe, Wein—–, Eli etc.

    berel
    berel
    14 years ago

    #1 and because its an old saying it becomes holy,still comes from a human being and doesnt make ant sense

    DACON9
    DACON9
    14 years ago

    Long ago I asked my syrian Deal NJ Rabbi,
    ‘how could Jews ever give up Jews to march to the ovens?”
    and he answered…
    ”we are not in their shoes ro know why and what made them do such things”…

    Long ago I asked my ashkanaz Rabbi the head of our shul in Brooklyn..
    ”why did 6 million Jews die ?”
    He answered..
    ”We should ask, ”why were 6 million other Jews blessed to live”

    the moral of the story I leave for you…….

    telz
    telz
    14 years ago

    I still feel without doubt as rabbi zwibel pointed out that if a c l can go to a non jewish court why would not one allow himself to be a moisser

    Mordy Neuman
    Mordy Neuman
    14 years ago

    Rav Dessler devoted many writings on the concept of giving and taking. He point out that a person is either a giver by nature or a taker by nature and how this leads to many areas in a person’s behaviours. Now here comes the kicker: some people are givers in order to be takers. Wow. A person who can become a rat against his brethern and offer the FBI to “create” criminals, is by definition not a goodhearted “giver” he is a taker of the lowest order who only gives in order to get-whether its earning respect, making a name for himself, or simply to feel better and less guilty for stealing. The Gambinos did the same so that the local priest would come tell the judge how sweet he is as he was being tried for murder.
    As a side note….at a time when there is so many Jews suferring what on earth is he doing donating $55,000 for a theatre??? That proves that like any good “made” man, he was simply looking to have people from all circles say how nice a man he was. As is evidenced today.
    Chazor becha! You can still choose not to take the whitness stand!

    Sad Sad Sad
    Sad Sad Sad
    14 years ago

    Sad for all the chesed he used to do – will it stand by him after all the tragedies he caused?

    Sad for all the commenters debasing other jews – have you nothing better to do than to decry the terrible crimes of your brethren – zoning? – worrying about a wife trying to make a few extra pennies and selling balloons from her house – worrying about somebody finishing a basement illegally? – are these the crimes of today’s world where drugs and gangs have made our streets and schools unsafe from murder?

    Sad for the FBI that used to fight the crimes that caused murders, bombs, terror – now reduced to dealing with a psychopathic egomaniac to incriminate 87 year old rabbis, and strong community supporters, by preying on their sensitivities to help him in his time of need.

    Sad for the families that are now torn asunder with such complicated questions that are unsolveable without major pain and suffering

    Sad – We have been dealt a terrible blow – a churban in our times – We have the remedies – Hashem wants our Teshuva – he wants us to learn his Torah – do his Mitzvot – be kind and charitable – keep Shabbos – keep Kosher – try to elevate yourself each day –

    Sad if we do not listen to the message for if we turn a deaf ear, Hashem will have to speak louder G-d Forbid.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    # 32 please stop praising your own comment so many times

    MDshweks
    MDshweks
    14 years ago

    Yeah, where was APP to write this 2 years ago when he was part of the Jewish community?….

    NW YID
    NW YID
    14 years ago

    Every Jew has tremendous merit and potential. May he make teshuva Shelema for any wrong doing, and soon return to the path of Kedusha…

    Remember, we all have our weak moments. The beuaty of being Jewish, is that we admit our flaws, we apologize, and we are forgiven. If El Kadosh Baruch Hu can forgive his children for the worst of sins, then we should forgive one another as well.. May G-d Bless this fellow Yid and help him to get back on the path of Torah and Mitzvot. May his experience strengthen his resolve to care for his fellow Jew. Kol Yisrael Arevim Zelazeh!

    no moser
    no moser
    14 years ago

    Nearly every comment above,reveals that although they might be living in the usa physicaly,mentally they are still in eastern Europe 3oo years ago.Most halachic authorities say that moser only applies when the jew will not receive a fair trial,or would get a harsher punishment than a goy,this is not the case in 21 st century usa,stop being so clannish every body,we jews are not above the law,and if ew break it we must be tried just like everyone else.