Federal Agents Raid Bert I. Dweck’s home
Federal agents raided the Midwood home of Bert I. Dweck’s in-laws, where the dealmaker and his wife, Alyson, are living, according to multiple sources.
Agents searched the home of Alyson’s parents near Avenue J in the early morning of Oct. 6, sources told The Real Deal. Dweck was not arrested or taken into custody, and no criminal charges have been publicly filed against Dweck.
The raid follows a string of civil fraud lawsuits filed against Dweck in New York and New Jersey. Dweck has faced 11 lawsuits, some of which alleged he used phony contracts to solicit funds for real estate acquisitions. The funds were supposed to be held in escrow accounts, but the lawsuits allege Dweck diverted the money, with some going toward his family’s six-bedroom home in Deal, New Jersey.
Some lawsuits also name his parents, Isaac and Marlene Dweck, and his brother, Adam Dweck.
In one lawsuit in New Jersey, Steven Tabeek and Joseph Ashkouti allege they loaned $2.1 million to Bert I. Dweck and his father, Isaac Dweck, between 2024 and 2025 to buy properties at 4188 Broadway in Manhattan, 1526 Grand Concourse in the Bronx and 6401 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn. Tabeek and Ashkouti allege Dweck funneled the loan proceeds into a related company, Affinity Development Capital. From there, the funds went to pay credit card bills, car payments and expenses tied to the family’s Deal home, according to the lawsuit.
After a barrage of lawsuits, Dweck and his attorney worked on settling the suits, and many were in the process of being discontinued, according to court filings.
The legal saga has been the talk of the insular Syrian-Jewish community in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and Deal, New Jersey, of which Dweck and many of his lenders and investors are members.
The Dweck litigation is the second major scandal in New York’s real estate industry involving allegations of missing escrow funds. The first involves former New York City-based attorney Mark Nussbaum, who admitted to diverting $336 million from his firm’s escrow accounts. Now, creditors are seeking to collect over $400 million from Nussbaum’s former law firms.
Dweck relied on Gravesend-based attorney Jacques Erdos to facilitate the alleged scheme by releasing escrow funds directly to Dweck, according to a lawsuit filed in New York state court. Erdos’ lawyer has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing.
The FBI did not respond to requests for comment. When reached by phone, Dweck told The Real Deal to talk to his attorney and declined to comment. Dweck’s attorney, Jason Swergold, declined to comment.
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