Newark, NJ – The rabbi’s son and admitted con man who became the central figure in New Jersey’s largest federal corruption sting is out of prison.
Solomon Dwek was released from a federal prison in Maryland this week. He was placed into home confinement after serving less than 30 months of a six-year sentence.
U.S Prisons Bureau spokesman Ed Ross tells NJ.com Dwek is under supervision. He will be able to go to work, visit doctors and attend some activities with his family, which includes six children.
The 42-year-old son of a prominent rabbi began cooperating with the FBI as part of a plea agreement after he was accused of running a real estate Ponzi scheme.
He secretly recorded meetings in which he sought to launder money from bankruptcy proceedings through Jewish charitable organizations and in which he posed as a corrupt real estate developer seeking influence with public officials.
The sting, which investigators called “Operation Bid Rig” led to the arrests of 46 political, business and religious leaders.
The arrests were unforgettable, even in New Jersey — a place with a reputation for political corruption.
Elderly rabbis in long black coats, municipal employees in sweat suits and assorted bleary-eyed elected officials paraded in handcuffs off a fleet of buses for processing at FBI headquarters.
Dwek testified in several trials over the charges.
Ultimately, 34 people pleaded guilty, four were convicted, two were acquitted and one died before trial.
It has not been a smooth ride for Dwek. In 2011, a judge calling him “an extremely cunning liar” revoked Dwek’s bail and sent him to prison as he awaited sentencing after he failed to return a rental car and then lied about the incident to his FBI handlers.
