Norfolk, VA – Rabbi Chaim Silver Responds To Wall Street Journal For Using Incorrect Quotes

the damage of talking to the press ,when you dont sign off on the final draft is done

this letter does little & maybe even adds insult to injury

His NAMES and PICTURE should appear in every paper, that he can’t change.

This is not the first time things like this have happened.

I dont understand why there arent acountants lawers that regulary review the books of evry “Deal”

if your honest and the one runing the “deal” you should supply such reports regulary from outside acountants.

If not stay away it smells funny.

Being extemelly familiar with all of the offerings at Wextrust, I can tell you most of them are not “too good to be true”. Aside from the diamond mines which by nature are extremely speculative and investors should know the risks of such ventures, they offered legitimate returns on well valued investments with reasonable business plans and revenue models. The key here was not the investments at hand but the people behind the investments. They got greedy and rather and suspend distributions on investments that did not have revenue for periods of time, they decided to comingle and take cash from other assets. They also took cash to keep their operations afloat fo payroll and other operating expenses and lived a very lavish lifestyle.

The bottom line is that when looking at an invesment always look at the character and integrity of the people in control and if something doesnt feel right it probably isnt. To say however all the investments did not make sense from the start is not logical as very sophisticated investors and very honest employees were deceived and it just shows that if someone wants to defraud you they will do it no matter how smart you think you are.

Regarding GSA all you have to do is check who owns the title to the properties and you will see it is not Wextrust or any afiliate of Wextrust and most of the properties have changed hands in the last year…just doesnt add up.

Two things that were very clear should have given everyone, including the current rabbi, and former rabbi turned employee, pause:

1. Shereshevsky went by an alias “Joseph Heller” when he arrived in Norfolk; and,

2. Shereshevsky lived an amazingly lavish lifestyle, after starting out from nothing only a short time earlier.

Who goes by an alias, other than someone who has reason to? And the lifestyle was a clear signal that something was up.

If Rabbi Silver ever vouched for Shereshevsky’s honesty in general, even if he disclaimed any expertise in business or investing, he was mistaken, and should apalogize. There is nothing wrong with making an honest mistake, but there is plenty wrong with failing to admit it and not apologize. Again, that’s relevant only if Rabbi Silver vouched for Shereshevsky’s honesty.

I think anybody of faith would pray for all the victims, whether investor or duped employee, but admitting mistakes, even if completely honest, is an important part of healing.

What’s with the alias?

I would like to second the above “anonymous” who starts out “being extremely familiar…”

Has anyone here read the SEC Complaint? Yes, it appears $100 Million may have been “misdirected,” but the implication is that the other $155 Million which was raised was placed, and is still placed, in legitimate investments which are probably still earning money. This was not a pure PONZI scheme. Moreover, I know some of those employed with Wextrust, albeit in more of a fundraising capacity, came from stellar careers and backrounds in the world of stocks and securities and would not have promoted Wextrust’s offerings from the start if they were not convinced of the legitimacy of those investments. It looks like what happened is that some of the investments did not perform as expected, and rather than disappoint investors and let Wextrust take its lumps, the principles decided to cook up some schemes to fill in the gaps. It does not appear the intention was to rip off anyone. It appears the intention was to make so much money that everyone would ultimately get a reasonable percentage return, whether the investments really existed or not.

Of course, the intention does not magically transform an illegal act into a legal one.

As far as Rabbi Friedman, while I cannot get inside Mr. Shereshevsky’s head, anyone that knows Joey Friedman knows that he is a dynamic, charismatic, intelligent person with impeccable character. There is not even a question why Yossi would hire him—he is one of those rare individuals who would succeed at any type of sales occupation. In addition, his Torahs are some of the most powerful you will ever hear. The investments, at least during the time when Rabbi Friedman was hired several years ago, were likely all legitimate items promising respectable returns of around 12%–certainly not “pie in the sky.” Buildings, apartments, shopping centers, capital improvements to commercial structures. No one, including Rabbi Friedman, would have any reason to suspect any wrongdoing at that point, especially since these investments were reviewed by numerous investment professionals outside of the company.

As to the “apology,” it is clear, at least from the Government allegations, that Mr. Shereshevsky and his partners were experts at keeping all non-partners (i.e. pure sales people) out of their “circle of deceit” when they decided to begin acting improperly. Suspicions were likely not aroused until the checks stopped coming to investors, which does not appear to be until recently.

I am sure Rabbi Friedman, who is just as much a victim here as anyone, has been forced to hang his head low on numerous occasions since this has come to light and apologize, face-to-face, to all those other folks who were unwitting victims here whom he convinced to invest with Wextrust. It seems to me that this is not the correct forum for that sort of thing. There is already enough hurt going around here.

We should all Daven that the families hurt by this horrible tragedy should be made as whole as possible, both financially and emotionally, after the dust settles here and the Reciever is able to sort through everything.

In response to anonymous above, I cannot speak to the alias. People do change their names. It is my understanding that the Heller name was his legal name and he legally changed it back to Shereshevsky; however, I do not think that alone is enough to warrant suspicion when credible people are agreeing on endorsing the investments as described above.

As to the expertise of Rabbi Friedman, or others, you should know that many of the sales people hired by Wextrust did not have investment backrounds. As far as I know, they DID NOT give investment advice per se. Others “closed the deal.” It seems many, like Joey Friedman, were hired not because of their past investment expertise, but because of their dynamic personalities, connections, and ability to convince people to invest, ie. make a sale. With a 12% rate of return, what was there to discuss?

I am not sure of the practices of other investment firms, but given the amount of money Wextrust raised and the amount of time in which they did it, perhaps we could all learn something legitimate from Wextrust about raising capital, aside from the potential illegalities of what the partners may or may not have done.

In terms of Yossi’s “extravagant” lifestyle, that also is nothing that would itself arouse suspicion. From what I saw, Yossi spent money, but I wouldn’t call it “extravagant,” at least not by Hollywood standards. He tastefully renovated a beautiful home, and made sure he flew first class on his business trips, because he’s a very large man. He was a tremedous Bal Tzedakah and Bal Chesed.

Also, I have relatives and know numerous people in Commercial Real Estate all over the Country. When succesful, it is, by definition, EXTREMELY lucrative for the partners. $3 Million per year is a pitance compared what I have heard others have earned in that field. With the huge offerings being presented by Wextrust on a worldwide scale, no one was surprised that Yossi was earning large sums of money, or that he was able to live as he did. It seemed to me, and others, that he lived a lifestyle that would befit someone who was highly succesful in Commercial Real Estate. I know others in that field who are far more extravagant.

His name was NEVER Heller. Check out his family tree and you’ll quickly find out who Heller is??

…that was a tad bit of sarcasm btw.

There is a law firm, Brown Rudnick, that has been asked to form a group to protect Wextrust victims’ rights, just as was done in the David Schick bankruptcy some 12 years ago, where they represented the Creditors’ Committee. Any investors (or other interested parties) can call Martin S. Siegel, ASAP (office: 212-209-4829). This is Martin S. Siegel, who represents investors, not Martin J. Siegel, who represents the alleged thief. Pretty funny that they have such similar names.

Hatzlocha.

All an investor had to do was “google” up Sheresehvsky and see that he was a convicted felon

passing bad checks. I screwed up on my usual due diligence falling for his religious “frum” facade

and I also got suckered. How could a religious “observant” person screw anyone. I guess it teaches us that we should not judge someone by the way they look. Just because someone “looks” frum (religious) does not mean that they are honest. It it only facade. Unfortunately there are a lot of fakers who look the part running around. I’m sure that there is a minyan in jail that he could go to. Does G-d accept these fakers prayers?

I cannot believe this will work!