SEC Says Synagogue Members
Were Cheated in a Large
'Affinity Fraud' Case
By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN
August 15, 2008
Rabbi Chaim Silver of the B'nai Israel Congregation in Norfolk, Va., says that members have called him often with a question about a congregant: "Can I trust Joseph Shereshevsky? I am planning to invest a lot of money with him."
The rabbi assured them: "He is the kindest, most generous, trustworthy man."
Rabbi Silver and a number of Orthodox Jews were shocked by Monday's arrest of Mr. Shereshevsky and a business partner at WexTrust Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Federal prosecutors in New York charged them with raising more than $250 million through a Ponzi scheme -- mainly from Orthodox Jews. A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.
Were Cheated in a Large
'Affinity Fraud' Case
By IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN
August 15, 2008
Rabbi Chaim Silver of the B'nai Israel Congregation in Norfolk, Va., says that members have called him often with a question about a congregant: "Can I trust Joseph Shereshevsky? I am planning to invest a lot of money with him."
The rabbi assured them: "He is the kindest, most generous, trustworthy man."
Rabbi Silver and a number of Orthodox Jews were shocked by Monday's arrest of Mr. Shereshevsky and a business partner at WexTrust Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Federal prosecutors in New York charged them with raising more than $250 million through a Ponzi scheme -- mainly from Orthodox Jews. A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.