Bert Dweck Lawsuit: NY and NJ Fraud Cases and Co-Defendants

Brooklyn real estate broker Bert I. Dweck is the defendant in eleven civil lawsuits filed in New York and New Jersey between late 2025 and May 2026, with plaintiffs collectively seeking roughly $19.8 million. The complaints in the Bert Dweck lawsuits allege a recurring pattern: money solicited for specific property acquisitions was never held in escrow as promised, deals never closed, and funds were routed through family-controlled entities and spent on personal expenses.¹ Dweck has denied the allegations in the filings where he has responded, and no criminal charges have been publicly disclosed.²

What the Plaintiffs Allege

The complaints share a small set of accusations that recur across nearly every case: escrow fraud, defaulted loans, bounced checks, and fabricated or forged contracts used to solicit investor capital for deals that stalled, collapsed, or never existed.³

Multiple plaintiffs allege that funds sent for a specific property purchase were never held in escrow. Instead, they claim, the money moved through entities controlled by Dweck and his family and was spent on credit card bills, car payments, and the mortgage on the family residence at 16 Neptune Avenue in Deal, New Jersey, valued at up to $11 million. The Zafarani complaint describes what it calls a scheme to create a “false appearance of continuing investment activity” by using new investor money to satisfy older obligations.¹

A spokesperson for Mark M. Benun, a Dweck associate who is himself a co-defendant in one suit, said Benun’s counsel identified more than five or six contracts that Dweck allegedly created with forged signatures to pull money out of escrow, and that Benun was aware of more than 20 victims.³

The New York Cases

Seven suits were filed in New York state court starting in late 2025, seeking at least $14.4 million combined.¹

The first major case came in December 2025, when five companies affiliated with Patriarch President Capital sued for $2.8 million tied to three properties: 1526 Grand Concourse in the Bronx and 4188 and 4910 Broadway in Manhattan. The complaint accuses Dweck of providing fraudulent documents and alleges that his attorney, Jacques Erdos, improperly released escrow funds directly to him. Dweck denied the allegations.⁴

Bronx supermarket owners Luis Manuel Diaz and Senelda Diaz allege losses of $2.81 million across two failed transactions. In the first, they say Dweck and Benun represented themselves as agents for the owner of a neighboring building and collected $1.44 million toward a purchase; the closing set for May 2023 never happened, and the actual owner reportedly had no record of any payment. In the second, the Diazes say they put $1.37 million into an LLC formed to buy a former Apple Bank branch at 74 Hugh J. Grant Circle in the Bronx. The LLC never bought the building and was dissolved in October 2023.³

Lender Gary Porat filed suit in January 2026 alleging Dweck defaulted on nearly $5.88 million in personal loans. Between May 2024 and November 2025, Porat says, Dweck attempted to repay with roughly 130 checks and ACH transfers totaling about $5.5 million. All were returned or bounced. Isaac and Marlene Dweck are named as co-defendants.³

In February 2026, Mordechai Samet, Sarah Samet, and related entities sued in Kings County over roughly $1.9 million in dishonored checks written on accounts that were frozen, underfunded, or nonexistent.⁵ That same month, Bay Group Development sued to recover a $500,000 deposit it had provided for a joint venture to acquire 6401 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn, alleging the money may have been misappropriated or commingled by Dweck or Erdos.³

The New Jersey Cases and the Family Home

Four suits filed in New Jersey state court between January and May 2026 seek a combined $5.4 million. They stand apart from the New York filings in two ways: each names Dweck’s parents Isaac and Marlene, his brother Adam, and family-controlled entities including 16 Neptune Ave LLC, Affinity Development Capital LLC, and Capital D Development LLC. And each plaintiff is trying to place a lien on the family’s Deal residence, arguing that diverted investor money paid for its mortgage and upkeep.¹

Isaac and Charles Zafarani allege they provided more than $1.185 million across three deals that never closed, involving 1526 Grand Concourse, three Rite Aid locations in Philadelphia and Westbury, New York, and 210–220 Nagle Avenue in Manhattan. When Isaac Zafarani asked for a refund on one deal, Dweck allegedly gave him a check with insufficient funds. The complaint claims the money went toward the Neptune Avenue residence.⁶
Morris Cohen of Cohen Property Group says he lent more than $100,000 to Dweck and related entities, including one called “Lionheart” tied to Adam Dweck. Cohen alleges collateral Dweck offered was rendered worthless after Dweck sold his interest in the underlying property, and that the loan proceeds ended up at the Neptune Avenue home and a retail property in Camden, New Jersey.¹
Steven Tabeek, Joseph Ashkouti, and affiliated entities allege that $2.1 million in loans earmarked for acquisitions at 4188 Broadway, 1526 Grand Concourse, and 6401 Fort Hamilton Parkway were routed through Affinity Development Capital and spent on car payments and credit card bills.¹
Steven Esses claims the family owes him $985,000 and alleges money he wired to an entity called “Capital D Reny” was diverted to the Deal home. Esses says Dweck stalled repayment by sending checks that bounced.¹

All four New Jersey plaintiffs are represented by attorney Jay Kanetkar.¹

The One Case Already Decided

Before the current wave, lender David Shafer won summary judgment against Dweck in New York County. Shafer had made four loans totaling $466,000 between February and April 2020, with interest bringing the obligation to $562,000. Dweck acknowledged the debt in a May 8, 2020 text message and later admitted in court filings that he received the money and never repaid it. During his deposition, Dweck invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination more than 60 times. On January 16, 2024, Judge Joel M. Cohen granted judgment for Shafer of $562,000 plus 9 percent annual prejudgment interest from the date of each breach, along with costs.⁷⁸

Others Named in the Complaints

Dweck’s parents Isaac and Marlene and his brother Adam appear as defendants in the New Jersey cases because plaintiffs allege the family acted in concert through jointly controlled entities, with Isaac Dweck specifically tied to Capital D Reny. Attorneys for the family members have not publicly commented.¹

Attorney Jacques Erdos, who represented Dweck in several of the disputed transactions, is named in at least two complaints. Through his own counsel, Erdos has denied wrongdoing and said the claims against him lack merit.³

Benun, named alongside Dweck in the Diaz suit, has his own history: he pleaded guilty in 2009 to four counts of interstate transportation of stolen property in a mortgage fraud scheme involving a building near Yankee Stadium, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, and was ordered to forfeit $5.5 million. His spokesperson said Benun retained counsel to distance himself from Dweck’s alleged criminal activity after discovering it.²

Where Things Stand

Dweck has denied the allegations in formal filings in at least two of the New York cases. His attorney, Jason Swergold, has declined to comment publicly on the broader claims, and no counterclaims by Dweck have been reported in any of the suits.³ All eleven cases remain civil. No criminal charges have been publicly disclosed as of mid-2026, and the allegations in the pending cases remain unproven.²

1
The Real Deal. Bert I. Dweck and Family Face Fraud Lawsuits in NJ
2
Hoodline. Brooklyn Real Estate Hotshot Bert Dweck Swamped by Suits Over Vanishing Millions
3
The Real Deal. Bert Dweck Faces Mounting Lawsuits
4
The Real Deal. A Brooklyn Dealmaker’s Legal Avalanche
5
UniCourt. Mordechai Samet et al v. Bert I. Dweck et al
6
Trellis Law. Zafarani v. Dweck, Motion to Consolidate Cases
7
NY Courts. Shafer v. Dweck, 2024 NY Slip Op 30201(U)
8
CaseMine. Shafer v. Dweck, Index No. 656108/2020