Money Laundering Rabbis, Black Market Kidneys And Corrupt Politicians
"The Jersey Sting: A True Story of Corrupt Pols, Money Laundering Rabbis, Black Market Kidneys, and the Informant Who Brought it All Down" (St. Martin's Press), by Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin.
Review: 'The Jersey Sting' Tells of FBI Raid
'Jersey Sting' tells how the FBI deployed over 300 agents in 1 New Jersey raid
By CARL HARTMAN • The Associated Press
"The Jersey Sting: A True Story of Corrupt Pols, Money Laundering Rabbis, Black Market Kidneys, and the Informant Who Brought it All Down" (St. Martin's Press), by Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin: It was like a small military undertaking when the FBI deployed over 300 agents in eastern New Jersey and the New York borough of Brooklyn early one July morning in 2009.
They captured 44 people, including five rabbis. Most were accused of political bribery, money laundering and tax evasion. One rabbi was charged with trafficking in human kidneys.
The story of "The Jersey Sting" is meticulously, seriously — and humorously — told by Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, two reporters at The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. (Margolin now works for the New York Post.) The book won honors from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and made the finals for a Pulitzer Prize.
The tale is complex. It centers on the career of Solomon Dwek, the son of a rabbi. He combined the roles of an unlicensed real estate broker, school executive, money launderer, political operator with a specialty in bribes, and an FBI informant wearing a concealed camera and voice recorder.
Dwek's work for the FBI was authorized by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, now governor of New Jersey and a not-too-dark horse for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential race.
Christie was also the first to announce Dwek's arrest following a plea agreement. Dwek pleaded guilty of trying to defraud a bank by cashing two phony checks — $25 million each. It was an attempt to shore up a Ponzi scheme in connection with his real estate business. He faces nine to 11 years in prison, remaining under "house arrest" while other cases are being decided.
So it's not light reading to undertake instead of a TV whodunit after a heavy dinner and a long day at the office. The alert reader will also get an introduction to New Jersey politics and its reputation for corruption. It's a help that the authors have furnished a convenient cast of characters with nearly 100 names and roles.
If you're interested in New Jersey corruption, you can also read "The Soprano State." (It helped Chris Christie get elected, since he was the prosecutor in many cases.)
Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | March 23, 2011 at 05:08 PM
i see nothing wrong with black market kidneys. if someone needs a kidney....do like the israeli air force...
can't go in thru the door? go thru the window.
i feel for the families of the people that need an organ. it's not like
people are running to donate.
Posted by: ruthie | March 23, 2011 at 05:57 PM
"i see nothing wrong with black market kidneys. if someone needs a kidney....do like the israeli air force...
can't go in thru the door? go thru the window.
i feel for the families of the people that need an organ. it's not like
people are running to donate.
Posted by: ruthie | March 23, 2011 at 05:57 PM "
The problem is when people are forced to give their kidneys against their will!
Posted by: nobody | March 23, 2011 at 08:30 PM
Are the politicians or the kidney donor specialists going to 'Asser' this book? No, they would look pretty stupid.
But what about the Rabbis? Of course they will, its part of the game.
Corruption.
Posted by: cynic | March 23, 2011 at 11:22 PM
oh...against their will...no, i'm against that. that's not human.
Posted by: ruthie | March 24, 2011 at 04:23 AM
The poor schlemiel who donates a kidney usually gets very little money, maybe $10,000. The middleman captures the lion's share of the proceeds.
Posted by: Shlomo | March 24, 2011 at 05:22 AM
I am reading the book --its fantastic!
The Godfather played by Marlon Brando would make people an offer they couldn't refuse.
These gadols make people offers they can't understand!
Who plays Dwek in the movie?
I say Paul Giamatti fresh off his role in Barney's Version.
Ruthie: the problem is that the organ brokering operating targeted defnses desperate people who were brought ot the US on promse of a big payout-they were then told they could either take the $10k or they were stuck here in the US with no place to live and no job.
Posted by: norm | March 24, 2011 at 06:49 AM
What about a book about Tropper, it has kinky sex in addition ti corruption
Posted by: Bassy the Haredi Slayer | March 24, 2011 at 10:07 AM