Federal brokers arrested a person in New Jersey for working a Ponzi scheme disguised as a house-flipping enterprise. The enterprise was promoted by radio rapper DJ Envy.
Feds arrested Cesar Humberto Pina, who was typically promoted on DJ Envy’s syndicated iHeartRadio present ‘The Breakfast Membership.’ The 45-year-old is charged with one rely of wire fraud.
“As alleged within the grievance, Pina exploited movie star standing and social media to develop a faithful following of potential victims,” shares U.S. Lawyer Philip R. Sellinger. “Promising returns that had been too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of individuals out of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Our workplace is dedicated to defending the general public from these schemes and prosecuting those that mislead traders for their very own private acquire.”
Based on investigators, Pina solicited dozens of people to buy and spend money on residential properties. He falsely represented the character of the enterprise and lied to traders about potential returns.
“We allege Pina supplied a ridiculously excessive price of return to traders, then took the thousands and thousands he acquired and invested it in himself,” provides FBI Newark Particular Agent in Cost James E. Dennehy. “HIstory has confirmed again and again, Ponzi schemes don’t work. The pot of gold on the finish of the rainbow ultimately runs out.”
Pina partnered with DJ Envy to conduct actual property seminars across the nation as self-promotional efforts. By means of these efforts, he developed a major social media following. In 2017, he started accepting investments for the alleged buy, transform, and sale of actual property initiatives round New Jersey and different states. Pina promised traders a 20% to 45% return on their funding inside 5 months.
“As a substitute of utilizing victims’ investments as promised, Pina engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme by commingling sufferer cash, utilizing new sufferer investments to repay prior victims, and spending sufferer funds on private expenditures. The investigation reveals Pina defrauded dozens of traders of thousands and thousands of {dollars},” the assertion reads.
The cost of wire fraud carries a most penalty of 20 years in jail and a advantageous of $250,000—or twice the gross quantity of any pecuniary acquire or pecuniary loss sustained by victims of the offense.