Jul 24, 2009 7:10 pm US/Eastern
NJ Jewish Community Feels Betrayed By Witness Dwek
DEAL, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Some in the Jewish community in Deal, New Jersey feel burned after five rabbis were among the 44 public servants rounded up by the feds, arrests only possible with Solomon Dwek's help.
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A Deal, NJ synagogue was raided during morning prayers, and several boxes of evidence removed, in the massive corruption bust in New York and New Jersey.
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Rabbi Saul Kassin, a prominent member of the Syrian Jewish Community, was arrested during the FBI raids connected to the N.J. corruption scandal. Kassin is the chief rabbi at Congregation Shaare Zion in Flatbush, N.Y.
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Among the NJ officials arrested in the massive corruption bust were Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, and several prominent NJ religious officials.
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Secaucus, N.J., mayor Dennis Elwell (pictured) and Hoboken, N.J., mayor Peter Cammarano were among dozens of public officials and others arrested by federal agents involved in a corruption investigation, July 23, 2009.
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Hoboken, N.J., Mayor Peter Cammarano was among many public officials and others arrested by federal agents involved in a corruption investigation, July 23, 2009.
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Inside the shops and the Syrian synagogue, few would talk about Solomon Dwek, the man they feel is a turncoat to his own people.
"To do something like that to the community is a disgrace," Syrian community member Joy Abboud said.
Some in the Jewish community in Deal, New Jersey feel burned after five rabbis were among the 44 public servants rounded up by the feds, arrests only possible with Dwek's help.
Asbury Park Press reporters Paul D'Ambrosio and Jean Mikle have been investigating Dwek since 2006, and say the one-time real estate king got into trouble with exotic mortgages.
"In an 18-month period, he borrowed $191 million," D'Ambrosio said. "At that point, he couldn't sustain the loans and his empire collapsed."
That led to Dwek going to a bank drive-through and cashing a worthless $25 million check. A bank fraud charge would follow, leading to an eventual deal with the feds.
"Dwek was such a good source for the government, and such a good cooperating witness, because he had that personality that made him very non-threatening to people," Mikle said.
Dwek was a government informant, some say, who was just saving his own skin.
"Obviously, what else was he going to do it for? No religious reasons," Deal resident Jesse Ouzer said.
At Dwek's home, there's no sign of the informant – and no guarantee, says one former prosecutor, that he'll join witness protection.
"There have been Mafia informants who didn't put themselves in the Witness Protection Program, so if ever there's a circumstance where one would fear for their personal safety, that would be it," former prosecutor Randy Mastro says. "These are principally financial crimes."
In a culture where one can be shunned for marrying outside the faith, it seems a fair bet that Dwek is now an outcast in the Syrian Jewish community, and perhaps even with his own family.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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