![Solomon Dwek is led out of the courtroom after pleading guilty to misconduct by a corporate official this afternoon at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. [Photo: Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger]](http://www.vinnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/dw46.jpg "dw46")
Freehold, NJ – For the second time today, failed real estate developer Solomon Dwek stood before a judge and admitted to participating in a complex real estate fraud that ultimately led to a massive state and federal corruption and money laundering sting.
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After pleading guilty in federal court in Newark to bank fraud, Dwek pleaded guilty in state Superior Court in Monmouth County to one count of misconduct by a corporate official.
Specifically, he admitted he obtained a $10 million loan to buy property in Manhattan but used that money instead to pay off nine people who were not related to that real estate deal.Dwek arrived at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold around noon when one of two dark vehicles drove him into a secure area of the courthouse parking lot and whisked him in through a private entrance.
His attorneys arrived a few minutes later at the second-floor courtroom.
“Is it your intention here today to freely and to voluntarily enter this plea of guilty?” asked Superior Court Judge Thomas Scully.
“Yes, your honor,” he said.
Scully asked Dwek several times whether he understood the rights he would relinquish by pleading guilty and whether he understood the ramifications of his decision.
“Does it remain your intention to enter this plea of guilty?” he asked.
“Yes, please, your honor,” Dwek said.
In return for his plea agreement, the state will downgrade the second-degree offense to a third-degree crime and will recommend a sentence of four years in prison to run concurrent to any federal sentence he receives. Scully set the sentencing date for Feb. 9, the same day as his federal sentencing.
The state did not recommend for Dwek to pay restitution or fines because those issues will be handled by federal prosecutors, said Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor John Loughery.
“You’re pleading guilty because you are guilty?” the judge asked again.
“Yes, your honor,” he said.
Through questioning by his attorney, Michael Himmel, Dwek said his company, SEM Realty Associates LLC , planned to purchase a commercial building at 30 Broad St. in Manhattan for $92 million and flip it for a quick profit in October 2005. He said he obtained a $10 million loan and a $3 million unsecured personal loan from an unidentified commercial bank to make the downpayment, and he told the judge he used three pieces of property he already owned as collateral for the loan.
Instead of using the loan to buy the building, he used the money to pay off nine people who had no involvement in the Broad Street deal a total of $11.25 million, he told the judge. Those people, said Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin, were people with whom Dwek had past or current real estate business investments.
Himmel left the courtroom through a back door with Dwek and did not speak with reporters.
The son of a prominent rabbi in Deal, Dwek, 37, was a cooperating witness in a federal investigation that snagged 44 public officials and religious leaders on money laundering, fraud and corruption charges.
one has to cry…………..
who he made sure to wear his big kippa
yemach shmo vezichro
dwek dwek do teshuva!! its never to late !!
I thoght it will be full with deal & b”p peaple
solomon..you will go down as the biggest traitor of the jewish people…you will get your in this world and the world to come..as the torah tells us..EIN LO HALEK LA OLAM HABA!! YOU RASHA!!SHAME ON YOU!!
oy vey…This is how Dwek looks on this world being judged by a buser vedam…Let him get to the other world when he meets hashem for all his rishes and mesires,i dont think they make plea bargains up there..May he ROT in some cell and answer to hashem for all he did…
nice yarmulka and beard.
he is definitely is demented.
he must really think what he did was ehrlich or he wouldnt be dressed like a frum yid.
why are they easy and lenient with him?
We are talking about 50 MILLION DOLLARS!!
Is he still in jail or is he out on bail???
How ironic that his lawyer’s name is Himmel, and he’ll never even get a whiff.
I find the calls for Dwek’s demise and suffering completely inappropriate. I personally know people who lost money with Dwek and even they are not nearly as angry and vindictive as many posters here. Then again, so many posters here defend other frum people accused of disgraceful acts so there really isn’t much to expect from this crowd, primarilly the uneducated. And we all know who they are by reading their meekly constructed arguments, their poor grammar and general butchering of the English language.
Pnei Hador Cpnei Hakelev Moshiach is on the way!!!!
I don’t think its possible for him to do teshuva al pi halucha
Yisrael Af Al Pi Shechata Yisrael Hu, I wish this whole thing can just go away. All I can say is that he lost it.
How low can a Jew fall?
if he was not promised freedom
Then why was he a cooperating witness in a federal investigation that snagged 44 public officials and religious leaders on money laundering, fraud and corruption charges?
WHY????????.
I dont think its possible for this peace of meat to do teshuvah he has to ask forgiveness of every single person he caused pain which is not possible, there are to many people involved here, besides the 44 people arrested each of those have freinds and family that are hurt because of this, “ein yome kipurim mechaper ad sheyeratzeh es chaveiro”
It is sad !!!!!!!!! give 2.years he will b back and he might still b one od the nice people in the community !!
the moral of the story is if u get in legal trouble do what Rubashkin did and get your self a great lawyer instead of agreeing to help the GOV with their quasi legal tactics I mean this guy basically sold his soul and will any way sit in jail even if he doesn’t the WPP is not so fun I read the book about the guy who started it
As a reminder!don’t trust someone because he wears a yamika nad beard
This whole story shouldn’t be discussed at all amongst clal yisroel. Al Pi Halacha, when there’s no evidence with Aidim etc…….. there’s absolutely no heter to talk about any yid unless proven in beis din or infront of aidim who each one of you have heard from (not rumors), it’s totally asur, especially when there’s no toeles, and don’t try to mattir your post as toeles, trust me almost all the posts on this topic have hate, jealousy, bad feelings, and worse.
Kol Yisroel araivim, GO OUT AND DO A CHESSED, LEARN TORAH, TEHILIM, OR CALL SOMEONE WHO COULD USE A PHONE CALL OR CHIZUK.
You’ll be doing more for others, for yourself and for gantz Clal Yisroel
does it mean he got only 4 years and down two for good Behavior ?
Poor poor guy, I think he regrets what he did a million times, a person does not sin unless some craziness overtakes him
Thank you for saving me from future theft by tax frauds.
Dwek was apparently facing 25 years or more of jail time for his crimes. He probably felt sitting a few years in jail was a better deal.
Instead of looking at him and screaming. Look inward and scream how did we let this happen. We have our work cut out for Us.
reply to # 23
lol!!! your sense of humor is greater than your common sense! go get a real job, you only feel bad for him cuz it takes one to know one.
My heart cries for the father and mother of Shlomo, for the wife, brothers and sisters and friends, and yes for Shlomo himself who went from being a respected askan to the most hated person in the frum community. I don’t wish to judge him or anyone for that matter. I don’t believe that evil exists, only to those who believe it, in others.
Why is there such hatred of Dwek? While he is obviously a crook, and is probably ruined for life, he actually performed a worthwhile function by providing evidence on many others violating the law–both yiddin and goyim.
Has someone proposed a relief fund to help Dwek’s family since they have probably lost everything as a result of this affair and he is unlikely to find a job easily once he is released from jail.
what a shame my god bless your soul
By his body language and tone of voice you can see that he is not at all uncomfortable with his predicament. On the contrary, he seems cool collected and even a little arrogant.
He feels he pulled it off. He lived a high and mighty lifestyle for a quite a while and now he will have to pay a small price for it. All in all not such a bad deal. The hundreds of people destroyed in his wake is of little concern to this megushamdige chazzer.
I have it on good authority that he continues to lead, more or less, a normal lifestyle in and around the Deal area and still runs the petty affairs of his household as if nothing happened.
If anybody is hoping that the guilt in gnawing at him and not giving him rest, sorry to disappoint you. He is doing just fine thank you. He is like a chameleon. He changes personality in accordance with his surroundings. When it was necessary to maintain a respectable persona in order to scam half the world, he was the most genuine nicest guy around. He built his reputation to such a high level that the bank actually cashed him a $25,000,000 check on the spot! Now, when it came time save his own hide he turned into the coldest masochistic devil even selling out his own flesh and blood in exchange for his hide.
I am anxiously waiting to see what punch line hashem
we live in sick world don’t know what to tell
how in the world can a person be so stupid to commit fraudulent activity on this level?
this guy has no brains. what was his thinking? and furthermore, why does he need his yarlmika? wouldn’t it be better for him and the jewish people to take it off?
has there ever been a greater chillul hashem in jewish history?
When he was just a person who stole $50 million people were okay with him. Barely any of this venom was there. But now he turned on other money launderers (some of whom happened to be rabbis) and now he is a moser and despised. How ironic that people here were okay with his theft but oppose him turning on thieves. And they think themselves righteous for it. We are not a mafia.
Where does he live now and whats with his family?
I’m Surprised that they didn’t make a yom tefilah on his court date.
While you all bicker about yes, a nice guy, no, a bad guy, I have a question.
Al pi Halacha, can a Moser do Teshuvah & if so, how? And according to Halacha & modern interpretation, doesn’t wearing a wire tap to prove Rabbi Kassin will launder money (knowing the Rabbi will be arrested because of the tape) make Dwek a moser?
I’d appreciate an answer to these questions. It seems there’s a lot of discussion whether technically Dwek is a moser. Meanwhile, in terms of jail, he’s a lucky son of a gun. I hope the courts treat Rabbi Kassin etc with such leniency.
Awaiting an (understandable) response. Thanks.
After all is daid & done, what have we done to teach our children not to be on either side ?
educate your children not to do what Dwek did & nither to have the Teiveh to do what the others got shlepped into.
Only Hashem will decide Dwek’s fate,no matter how much you may wish for it. For all you know, he may get a brachah for bringing to light the activity of others. We just don’t know. Maybe the others will now do the right thing and admit to their wrongdoing.
So it appears there is no Teshuva from a Moser…that the aveira is so reprehensible he can never atone for what he did?
If that is correct, then it begs the question: is Dweck really according to Halacha a moser? Have any Rabbanim/Gedolim come out & paskened one way or the other?
This is obviously such a complex issue, and I find it intellectually stimulating. I can say one thing, though…I know people who sat rather than put other Jews in danger of going to jail by saying what they knew. And my father A”H was so afraid of being Moser on anyone, even unwittingly, that he literally died from the stress of being dan l’kaf zchus someone who, after Papa’s death, changed his story & confessed to a terrible crime. This was a lifetime ago, when some people (like my father) had morals & ethics.
Whatever the Halachic implications, one thing seems very clear: morally, Dwek is the lowest of the low, even if technically it turns out he is not a Moser. Thank you all for your input. I am glad you took the time to educate me.
without stating my opinion oh this issue, the issue of mesirah is not quite as clear cut, tzitz elizer and rav elyashiv both stated that in a medina shel chessed mesirah does not apply, as did the aruch hashulchan, rav wosner holds that while it may not be the best mentchlechkeit, it is permissible to turn in someone for a law the jewish people recongnize, and reb moshe falls closest to your opinion,i would post the link here but i cant because of posting rules, so suffice to say its on jlaw, i ask mechila in advance if i misunderstood the psaks, but please take a look at them
tmtsa- gavi