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As Solomon Dwek matter-of-factly recounted his life of crime for a federal jury he said his first crooked act came in a Riverdale, N.Y., religious school.

As a teenager about to graduate from the school for Orthodox Jews, Dwek suddenly was informed that he had failed math and would not receive his diploma.

But there was a way out, Dwek testified. The teacher told them that if Dwek, and other failing classmates, each paid $50, they would pass the course and graduate.

Dwek paid the bribe. That was the beginning of a life of crime for Dwek, now the key witness in a massive FBI corruption sting that resulted in the arrests of 44 public officials and rabbis in July 2009. Eleven of those officials have since pleaded guilty, and one has died.

Dwek's testimony came Thursday at the start of the extortion and bribery case against Leona Beldini, 74, the former deputy mayor of Jersey City.

Beldini is accused of accepting $20,000 in bribes from Dwek to help him secure approvals for a phantom 750-unit condominium. She has pleaded not guilty.

Dwek admitted last year to defrauding PNC Bank in Eatontown of more than $22 million after depositing a phony $25.2 million check in April 2006. He was arrested by the FBI in May of that year and started working as a cooperating witness in January 2007.

Dwek once ruled over a multi-million dollar real estate empire in six states. But he said the empire became a giant Ponzi scheme that took money from up to 80 new investors to pay off mounting debts. It all collapsed when he bounced the check in 2006. Much of his real estate holdings have been sold off through bankruptcy court.

On Thursday, Dwek testified that he called himself "David Esenbach," when he approached Jersey City officials. He posed as a real estate developer with projects in New York City, North and South Carolina and Florida, who was interested in development opportunities in New Jersey.

For nearly two hours, former Ocean Township resident Dwek, 37, described his criminal history of money laundering, bribery of public officials, filing false documents and tax evasion.

http://www.app.com/article/20100128/NEWS03/1280356/On-witness-stand--Solomon-Dwek-recounts-his-life-of-crime