Deal, NJ – Solomon Dwek Expected to Plead Guilty
- October 20, 2009 - ב' חשון תש"ע
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Deal, NJ – Solomon Dwek, the wired witness for the federal government in the massive New Jersey corruption sting, is expected to take the Newark walk of shame himself tomorrow, pleading guilty to charges in connection with a $50 million bank fraud, the Star-Ledger is reporting on its Web site.
The 2006 scheme is how Dwek originally came to the attention of federal prosecutors, who then turned him into an informant.
As such, Dwek snared 45 people, including an array of Hudson County politicians, on charges ranging from political corruption to money laundering.
Of the 45, so far seven — all from Hudson — have pleaded guilty.
Those who have been arrested and say they are innocent include the former mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus.
Dwek, 36, is to plead guilty first in federal court, the Ledger said, quoting a source familiar with the investigation. Later in the day, he is expected to be in Superior Court in Monmouth County to plead to similar state charges.
Officials at the U.S. Attorney’s office issued an advisory saying only that “a central figure” in the July 23 arrests of 43 people on public corruption and money laundering charges would appear in federal court before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark. A spokesman for the office declined to answer questions and Dwek’s attorney did not return calls to his office.
Dwek was initially arrested on the fraud charges in May 2006 after he deposited a bogus $25.2 million check into a closed PNC Bank account he controlled, the Ledger said.
According to the original criminal complaint, Dwek went to a drive-in window at the bank’s Eatontown branch. The check was drawn on an account he controlled, but the account had been closed and had no money in it.
Dwek assured a reluctant PNC employee that “corporate” had agreed to reopen the account and that funds to cover the check would soon arrive by wire transfer, the complaint alleged.
With those assurances, Dwek was allowed to deposit the check into a second account he controlled.
The next morning he began spending the money, even though the promised wire transfer to cover the check had never been made, according to the complaint. He made four payments totaling $22.8 million. The largest was made to HSBC Bank to cover a loan in the name of Dwek and a fellow investor.
When PNC discovered the fraud, they called authorities.
Following his arrest, Dwek apparently spent 29 months as a cooperating witness, setting up rabbis and others in the religious community, as well as mayors, political candidates and public officials in an undercover sting operation that prosecutors have called unprecedented in its scope.
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