Rabbi Solomon Dwek, a scion of the Syrian Sefardic community of Deal, New Jersey, is being charged with a $50 million bank fraud. In essence, what Dwek did is an elaborate check kiting scheme that went bad fast.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports:
[Rabbi Solomon] Dwek appeared in court with his feet shackled and his hands cuffed behind his back. Federal marshals made him remove his belt after his arrest. As he stood before Falk, he tugged clumsily at his pants to keep them from falling down.
Dwek's father is Rabbi Isaac Dwek, a leader in the Sephardic Jewish community and the head of the Synagogue of Deal. His father and other family members were in court with him.
Dwek himself has been the vice president and chief executive of a Jewish school, the Deal Yeshiva. He is a prolific contributor to political candidates and committees. In Federal Election Commission records from the past six years, he lists himself alternately as a rabbi, a school administrator, an investor and the head of a real estate company called Dwek Properties LLC.
He owns more than 200 properties in central New Jersey, Himmel said in court.