Whatever Happened To Isaac Hersh? Man Who Funded Isaac's Rescue Arrested In $100 Million Ponzi Scheme

Isaac Hersh,the boy kidnapped by his parents and shipped to Tranquility Bay, a boarding school prison where children are routinely tortured, was rescued in March.

He was put in the temporary custody of his father's friend, Steve Zackheim – a convicted criminal.

And now it seems the man who financed Isaac's Hersh's rescue has himself been arrested. Joseph…

…Shereshevsky was arrested along with his former business partner Steven Beyers. Both are Orthodox Jews. Both allegedly ran a $100 million ponzi scheme called WexTrust Capital LLC which defrauded, among others – Orthodox Jews.

And what happened to Isaac?

The Brooklyn (where else?) family court judge that put him in the temporary custody of a criminal was supposed to decide on Isaac's long term status in May.

I've heard nothing about this since early April. Have you?

UPDATE: It turns out Joseph Shereshevsky is already a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty in 2003 to bank fraud.

But haredim and even Modern Orthodox Jews often don't view white collar crime committed against non-Orthodox or non-Jews as a big deal. So they continued to trust Shereshevsky, who bilked them out of tens of millions of dollars.

[Hat Tip for the Shereshevsky arrest: Ssssssssss! and the Other DK.]

Comments

[Sam]

If the kid is a minor then it's not likely you would hear about any custody determination as such proceedings are not disclosed. He could've totally had a custody determination without your knowing about it.

[Yochanan Lavie]

This goes to show how complex human nature is. One can be a big baal tzedekah and do much good with one hand, while defrauding innocent dupes with the other hand. I am not defending the Ponzi scheme; just pointing out what a mess of contradictions human beings are.

[reader]

Well that's disappointing...

"But haredim on even Modern Orthodox Jews"
On should be and?

[Schneur]

By now we know that criminal activity of all non violent sorts are pervasive in the Orthodox community.
So why continue to report on it.
I suggest a more analytic approach, lets discuss the reasons behind this manifestation and how it could be solved.
Orthodox white collar criminals exist in the thousands and sex perverts and deviants are all over the place. So how do we deal with these issues ?

[Ronen Levi Yitzchak Segal]

B''H - I literally can't wait for all the bloggers to suffer from cancer and see their children die before their very eyes while in this world for spreading loshon hora in a way even Satan would claim to deny. May you all eat the fruits of your work while in this gross, physical world. Love always and moshiach, meaning the Rebbe, melech HaMashiach now in complete revelation, now! Ronen Levi Yitzchak Segal

[Anonymous]

the Rebbe, melech HaMashiach now in complete revelation, now!

Have a refuah shleima.

[Archie Bunker]

SHmarya is every bit the spin doctor that Lubinsky is except that he expends effort in smearing orthodox Jews as opposed to protecting the Rubashkin empire.

I was not aware that Shereshevsky had a previous fraud conviction and neither did anyone else I know including UOJ and his readership.

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2008/comp20678.pdf

Yossi has covered his tracks well by using aliases like "Joseph Heller" and moving to Norfolk, hardly a Charedi outpost.

I know Yossi's family and know about some other sordid affairs he was involved in but nothing that brought on any criminal charges.

For Shmarya to suggest that Charedi & modern orthodox Jews would give their money to a someone they know is a convicted fraudster is absurd to the enth degree.

[Shmarya]

"But haredim on even Modern Orthodox Jews"
On should be and?

Fixing now – thanks!

[WoolSIlkCotton]

It's only a matter of time before the Chassidic/Charedi world progresses from nonviolent crime to violent crime against one another. There's only a thin line separating this right now. As soon as they think they can get away with it, the violence will begin. Just wait and see.

[Archie Bunker]

Also, why was an "update" required? The original Bloomberg article mentioned the earlier conviction.

[Archie Bunker]

Wool&Linen or whatever your name is, I'm sorry that you so relish the sight of blood. I suggest you get a hold of latest Rambo movie just released on DVD.

[WoolSIlkCotton]

What exactly is holding back the charedi world from committing violent crimes, and only sticking with nonviolent crimes for the time being?

[Archie Bunker]

If you want to get hypothetical, what is stopping you from jumping off the Empire State building or throwing yourself in front of a train?

[Archie Bunker]

To address part of what is bothering you, Jews generally do not have a propensity to commit violent crime, as you seem to have noticed. The way of Esav & Yishmael is to tackle problems in a bloody way. When the rotten apples among Jews have acted this way it was out of character.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Jews have been involved in violent crime. The Russian and Israeli "mafias" are full of Jews. Jews have been extensively involved in violent organized crime in America, sometimes in alliance with the Sicilian crime families; so much so that many books and at least one movie was made about it. There has also been much Jewish organized crime in Argentina, in the past.

I wish I could say we are better than "Esau" but the facts don't bear it out.

"Love always and moshiach, meaning the Rebbe, melech HaMashiach now in complete revelation, now! Ronen Levi Yitzchak Segal"

Substitute "Jesus Christ" for Rebbe, and "messiah" for "melech haMashiach" and you will see what this theology means.

[yudel]

i am out on the road but this is my national enquirer....this ponzi scheme has been done more than once. See if you can pull it from say ten years ago. I was at one of these 'parents let's build a new yeshiva building for the bochurim. You give us ten thousand pesos or lira or dollars and we will give it back to in a couple of months or maybe a year with 20% earnings on your money. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Manahel was there to cheer us on. Meaning have a bort and be very serious.
I asked if this was some kind of pyramid deal cause this was impossible to do and that everyone in the room should know it . I also said you will loose your money. This cannot be legal.

Gee, I got my face chapped. The ponzi man turns to his shill the BIA Rav and the Rav with a very serious beard stroke told me that the Rosh Yeshiva encouraged us to do this and of course it is al pi halacha.

I left of course and knew he was halachically correct of course. This was a crime and he would at some point be found guilty in US Court and any read Din Torah.

So you see there is miasma of confusion going down. The man was arrested. I do not remember how much he scammed but it was beau coup dollars.

The BIA menahel was swept into this himself. What did he know about rogue financiing. It was the similiar theme with different song....all these people getting into things they have no business doing.

We see this in extremis in child abuse. None of the rabbis are trained period to deal with abuse. One cannot simply learn shas and be a boki in human relations. And this is my mild view for the day.

and yes we should have a guest stand in to give some insight. Blog boss when i get back i will give you a leading name in Israel who will give us some commentary if you are open to this...could have said person look over case files reported and comment communally, spousal abuse and child abuse.

Since this is becoming JNN get it CNN and JNN..i think we know what the J stands for...be real folks..Jewish.

If we had experts here it would i also suspect get reprinted in other places.

Schnuer good idea....White collar orthodox crime happens too...and yes it is a shame ...all the balabatim were their for their kids ....to get a better building and the cash got wings ..later

[Jason]

Please Archie, the generalizations you make trivialize your (sometimes) excellent points. "Jews generally don't have a propensity to commit violent crime" yet others do? That's ridiculous. No ethnic or religious group has a "propensity" to violent crime.

First of all, violent crime tends to be linked with low levels of education. Given the importance of education in the Jewish community, that could be one reason you may see less violent crime in the Jewish community. But it has certainly not been nonexistent. And likewise, white collar crime tends to be correlated with education and, of course, opportunity.

Second of all, child abuse and molestation, as well as spousal abuse, are all violent crimes and are committed in the Jewish community, as well as in the Orthodox and Charedi communities, even if they aren't reported as much as they are in the wider secular world.

It's very easy to say that when "they" do something, it is in their nature, but when "we" do something, it is out of character, but it's an easy answer that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

[steve]

Jason, excellent points. Jews should not be associtaed neither with white collar crime nor blue collar crime. The chillul hashem associated with both is immeasurable. When a Jew lives Al Pi Halacha, there is no room for any type of criminal behavior, despite what certain misleaders preach.

[Archie Bunker]

My point was not that it is impossible that Jews commit bloody crimes but that it is completely out of character and from an outside influence. Esav & Yishmael were proud of the fact that they lived by the sword. It was never the Jewish way. Jews who sin in the financial arena do not cringe as much when committing those crimes.

[steve]

Sinning in the financial arena should also be completely out of character. As Jason pointed out, child molestation should also be completely out of character. However, these crimes and these criminals have become the accepted norm in Jewish society, so much so that these scumbags are given the highest honors. This past weekend convicted child molester Jerry Brauner was given the honor of Baal Tefilah on Tisha B'Av. I don't need to go into details Archie. You know very well what I'm taliking about.

[Archie Bunker]

Of course it should be. I'm only explaining why the metzius of murder is less.

[Red Sox Fan]

The criminal activity within the Orthodox community reminds me of the steroid scandal in baseball. Even when people started talking about it, no one did anything until penalties were assessed. At first it was a 10-game suspension. Now it's increased. And guess what - the game's been cleaned up.

Same here. The rabbis may get up and talk about honesty in business, but it's all lip service. Until they have a zero-tolerance policy, nothing will change. If these guys can still get honored at dinners and things like that, then you know that the rabbis are full of it.

[Jason]

I'm afraid you're right Red Sox Fan, and I'm skeptical anything will change. As long as people can hide behind "loshon hora" as a way to prevent anyone from saying anything against them, even if it's true, nothing will change.

It seems like most of the Orthodox community subscribes to the same policy as Genack and the OU: we're not going to punish someone for something that happened in the past. And, of course, we can't punish someone for something that hasn't happened yet. So....

[WoolSIlkCotton]

Hey Archie,
At about 10am today, I posted my original question about when Haredi Jews will start committing violent crimes against other Jews.
Your initial response was to ridicule me, then to say it's not in the Jewish nature.
Now, 7 hours later, it's being reported!

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/08/beit-shemesh-pr.html

[rebitzman]

>

Yaacov might disagree - assuming of course that you consider Shimon and Levy to be Jewish.

There's not a lot of wiggle room in: Shimon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship.............

[rebitzman]

++Esav & Yishmael were proud of the fact that they lived by the sword. It was never the Jewish way.++

Quote for the above post

[Archie Bunker]

That's very ignorant, Rebitzman.

The city of Shechem did not enforce the law against a rapist because they were all immoral. Shimon & Levi meted out justice.

Besides that the original question was regarding Jew on Jew.

To WoolSilk:

I'm sorry that the ugly scenario you wished for so badly came true to some extent.

[rebitzman]

++That's very ignorant, Rebitzman.++

You'll have to take it up wit Yaacov as those were his words - not mine.

++The city of Shechem did not enforce the law against a rapist because they were all immoral. Shimon & Levi meted out justice.++

I see - and that justifies the slaughter of every man, woman and child. Again - our Patriarch certainly didn't think so.

But I forgot - you're MUCH smarter than he is.

++Besides that the original question was regarding Jew on Jew.++

Oh...that would be the entire tribe of Benyamin.

[rebitzman]

++I'm sorry that the ugly scenario you wished for so badly came true to some extent.++

CAME true?

It was true when he posted - the fact that you were ignorant of it doesn't alter that fact.

[Isa]

Regarding:
""The city of Shechem did not enforce the law against a rapist because they were all immoral""
True today too!

[Archie Bunker]

Yet again Rebitz displays ignorance.

Yaakov Avinu said arur apam. He did not curse them themselves. His concern was that the surrounding tribes would gang up on his clan in retaliation.

And get your Bible stories straight. Only the adult men of Shechem were killed.

[Jason]

We live in strange times indeed. In many shuls, even relatively modern ones, you can't get an aliyah if you aren't wearing a hat, or heaven forbid, a suit jacket or tie. But if you're a convicted felon, especially a white collar criminal who has donated some of your ill gotten gains to the shul or other charities, you not only get an aliyah, you get Chasan Breishit or maybe even are made an honoree at the shul dinner.

As an aside, I know this can be seen as a gross generalization, but in my experience, some of the most bloodthirsty people I have met are Orthodox Jews. Now, they don't necessarily want to shed the blood themselves, but they are positively giddy over the idea of the United States (or Israel) slaughtering as many Arabs/Muslims as possible, regardless of whether those Arabs/Muslims have committed any crime or violence against Americans, Israelis, Jews or anyone else. Does that qualify as violent crime, or does it only count when it's committed against another Jew?

[rebitzman]

>>Yet again Rebitz displays ignorance.

Yaakov Avinu said arur apam. He did not curse them themselves. His concern was that the surrounding tribes would gang up on his clan in retaliation.>>

Ignorance? Well, at least I am in the correct section of Bereshit here.

The verse I cited Yaacov spoke on his deathbed - WELL after his concern for the neighboring tribe issue had gone away.

FURTHER - his concern at the time was over their violent behavior and the impact of said behavior, and THAT flies in the face of your initial statement as well.

++Only the adult men of Shechem were killed.++

Point conceded - but the question still remains unanswered, is aiding and abetting someone OR (more openly the case here) not moving against a criminal a capital crime? Under Jewish Law are we allowed to carry out a death sentence without benefit of a Bet Din? With a sword?

And - given what we KNOW from the text itself (not from details added in certain Midrashim) and the Laws concerning witnesses, could we have convicted anyone of this crime to begin with?

[rebitzman]

++but in my experience, some of the most bloodthirsty people I have met are Orthodox Jews.++

Grow a bigger circle.

[Archie Bunker]

Jason, you're being ridiculous. That incriminating brushstroke you just used to label orthodox Jews also more or less applies to the editors of the Wall St Journal and National Review. The Western World is at war with Islam as a self defense posture. While the Arabs lust over collateral damage in their twisted justification in going on the offensive, you conveniently forget who started the war and that most of those people would rejoice over the senseless killing of you and your baby.

[Archie Bunker]

"The verse I cited Yaacov spoke on his deathbed"

Precisely. Some commentaries derive that after things settled down, that was his way of agreeing with them in hindsight.

"not moving against a criminal a capital crime?"

YES. One of the 7 mitzvos that Sons of Noach are bound by is Dinim - enforcing the law and making sure that rapists and murderers are executed. If they fail to act, the entire adult male population deserves the death penalty.

"Under Jewish Law are we allowed to carry out a death sentence without benefit of a Bet Din?"

If you would study in depth you would know that the 12 tribes did nothing without convening a beit din.

"With a sword?"

Under certain circumstances, yes.

"given what we KNOW from the text itself (not from details added in certain Midrashim) and the Laws concerning witnesses, could we have convicted anyone of this crime to begin with?"

It's in the text of the Oral Torah handed to Moses at Sinai.

[rebitzman]

++"With a sword?"

Under certain circumstances, yes.

"given what we KNOW from the text itself (not from details added in certain Midrashim) and the Laws concerning witnesses, could we have convicted anyone of this crime to begin with?"

It's in the text of the Oral Torah handed to Moses at Sina++

The 6th Chapter of Sanhedrin lists four acceptable methods of execution - Skila, Sreifa, Hereg, and Chenek and hacking someone up with a sword isn't one of them (you MIGHT argue that Hereg could apply, but that is NOT what is described in reference to the actions of Shimon and Levi). The rabbis of the Talumd deemed that execution had to be:

* To be as quick as possible
* To be as painless as possible
* To cause as little disfigurement as possible
* To preserve the dignity of the condemned
* To be within the framework of Biblical texts

As to your second "argument" - you continue to reference a tome without benefit of a specific citation.

Very convenient for you.

++Some commentaries derive that after things settled down,++

And some Midrashim contradict this. "Some" is not a good word to hide behind.

FWIW - In spite of your tone, I am enjoying the conversation.

[rebitzman]

Archie - wrote off line and pasted - insert after bulleted list:

How does stabbing someone who is writhing in pain after a "late in life" bris qualify?

[Archie Bunker]

The execution methods in Sanhedrin are exclusive only for specific crimes that are listed there.

Which item do you want a reference for?

I don't recall any Midrashim contradicting the explanation of Yaakov Avinu's words. I said "some" because there may be.

"How does stabbing someone who is writhing in pain after a "late in life" bris qualify?"

They did this specifically so that when meting out capital punishment to so many who deserved it there would be much less resistance.

If it bothers you that it seems kind of inhumane, it is allowed according to halacha for Amalek and other narrow circumstances. Certainly, people who supported a violent rape of a 9 year old girl qualify.

The source for that is Rabbi Brevda's edition of the Vilna Gaon on Esther. See the footnotes on the verse "Makas cherev hereg v'abdan" in the name of the Steipler Gaon's son.

[steve]

None of the Mepharshim question the fact that the people of Shechem were deserving of death. Chas V'Shalom for one to accuse Shimon and Levi of murdering innocent people. The shevatim were all tzaddikim, despite what appears on the surface. Yaakov Avinu critcized them for endangering him and the family, not for murdering innocents.