New Jersey actual property influencer Cesar Pina, higher generally known as “Flipping NJ,” seems destined to commerce his life-style for a jail jumpsuit.
Pina pleaded responsible to quite a lot of fees, together with defrauding traders of cash in a Ponzi-like scheme, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the District of New Jersey announced. Pina pleaded responsible to at least one rely of wire fraud, one rely of cash laundering conspiracy, one rely of bribery of an agent of a program receiving federal funds and one rely of Journey Act bribery
“It’s arduous to think about a extra different spate of prison exercise, which robbed traders of their life financial savings, helped facilitate drug trafficking, and undermined confidence in our elected officers,” U.S. Legal professional Robert Frazer mentioned in an announcement.
Federal prosecutors said Pina partnered with a celeb disc jockey to conduct actual property seminars nationwide, constructing his social media presence to draw traders. The DJ was not named within the indictment, however stories have pointed to Energy 105.1’s DJ Envy as Cesar’s enterprise companion.
Starting in 2017, Pina started soliciting funds from particular person traders for buying, reworking and promoting residential properties in New Jersey and different states. Pina promised returns of 30 p.c or greater inside 4 to 5 months, in response to his indictment.
As an alternative of utilizing investor funds as promised, prosecutors mentioned he commingled and misappropriated the cash, utilizing investor funds to pay earlier traders in a Ponzi-like scheme. He additionally spent investor cash on unauthorized enterprise and private bills.
The scheme defrauded dozens of traders out of tens of millions of {dollars}.
Moreover, Pina conspired to launder illicit funds, together with from the sale of managed substances, for people he knew had been engaged in narcotics trafficking.
Pina was additionally charged with bribing a Paterson official in reference to actual property initiatives. Prosecutors mentioned he offered money and different bribes to safe official help with a undertaking that had pending purposes earlier than the Paterson Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Pina is about to be sentenced in March. The Franklin Lakes resident faces as much as 20 years in jail on every fraud and cash laundering rely.
His spouse, Jennifer Pina, was separately indicted for allegedly destroying her cellphone as FBI brokers arrived to execute a search warrant. Prosecutors mentioned she tried to impede the investigation by asking a good friend to confront a witness and request they cease cooperating with federal investigators.
There’s been no public replace in her case since final July.
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