Solomon Dwek, the epic fraudster turned FBI informant, added another sordid scheme today to his long list of admissions: investing in the demise of people at the edge of death. Testifying in the bribery trial of a Bergen County mayor, Dwek said he and a partner offered to pay life insurance premiums for dying people who couldn’t afford them....
Government informant Solomon Dwek admitted today taking money from dying people's families. Solomon Dwek, the epic fraudster turned FBI informant, added another sordid scheme today to his long list of admissions: investing in the demise of people at the edge of death.
Testifying in the bribery trial of a Bergen County mayor, Dwek said he and a partner offered to pay life insurance premiums for dying people who couldn’t afford them. When time came to collect, Dwek’s Yeshiva and his partner gave the family of the deceased 10 percent and split the rest.
“How much money did you make investing in people’s death?” asked Michael Critchley, a lawyer for Ridgefield Mayor Anthony R. Suarez.
“The Yeshiva made about $125,000,” Dwek said.
The informant’s testimony came in the fourth day in the trial of Suarez, a 43-year-old Democrat charged with taking $10,000 in bribes from Dwek. The one-time rabbinical student helped ensnare 46 people in last year’s sprawling money-laundering and bribery probe.
Dwek began cooperating with the FBI in 2006 after being charged with a $50 million bank fraud. He worked his way across the state, wearing a tiny hidden video camera on his belly as he tried to talk rabbis into laundering money and convince public officials to take bribes.
Suarez and Vincent Tabbachino, a Guttenberg tax preparer who is being tried alongside the mayor, are charged with bribery, attempted extortion and extortion conspiracy. Tabbachino, 69, also is accused of helping Dwek launder $100,000, which the informant said came from selling knock-off designer handbags.
Suarez's lawyer said the mayor never knowingly took an illicit dime. He turned down $10,000 cash. He never deposited a $10,000 check. And, ultimately, the 43-year-old Democrat kept just $2,500, which he believed was a legitimate donation to his legal defense fund, his lawyer, John Michael Vazquez, said.
If convicted, Suarez and Tabbachino face up to 20 years in prison.
Previous coverage:
• Jurors view video of Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez meeting with Solomon Dwek
• Videotape evidence to be at forefront of Ridgefield mayor Suarez's trial today
• Solomon Dwek again relays tales of his illegal activities as trial of Ridgefield Mayor Suarez opens
| Solomon Dwek and Vincent Tabbachino discuss Suarez and money |