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.