Two figures in the sweeping 2009 federal money laundering and public corruption bust had additional money-laundering charges added today, under a 14-count indictment handed up in Newark.
Rabbi Lavel Schwartz, 59, and David S. Goldhirsh, 29, both of Brooklyn, were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to their dealings in 2008 and 2009 with the now-infamous FBI informant and real estate developer, Solomon Dwek.
The two men were indicted on a money-laundering conspiracy count and 12 counts of attempted money laundering based on their Dwek dealings. Schwartz is charged in 10 of those 12 counts, Goldhirsh three.
According to federal authorities and the indictment, Schwartz and his brother, Rabbi Mordchai Fish, agreed to launder money they believed Dwek got from illegal activities such as bank fraud, selling of counterfeit merchandise and bankruptcy fraud. After Dwek gave them bank checks ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, they gave him cash back, minus a 10 percent or so cut for themselves, federal authorities said.
Fish told Dwek to make checks out to charitable organizations, or "gemachs," authorities said, before giving him cash. One of the charities, or gemachs, was run by Goldhirsh and called Boyoner Gemilas Chesed, said authorities.
Gemach is a Hebrew word referring to a Jewish free-loan fund.
Between May 28, 2008, and May 14, 2009, one or both of the defendants dealt with Dwek a dozen times in transactions totaling $795,000, the indictment said.
The defense attorneys for Schwartz and Goldhirsh both declined to comment, saying they hadn’t yet read the indictment. A representative for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman declined to comment on the matter or the government’s strategy. Charges filed against Fish are pending, authorities said.
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