Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Dj Envy acting as ponzi scheme real estate rico with his friend, Cesar Pina, who learned real estate scamming in PRISON.
Prosecutors say that since 2017, Pina has solicited investments from small investors to flip homes in New Jersey and elsewhere, promising returns of 20 to 45 percent in five months.
But instead of investing the funds as promised, the complaint alleges that Pina siphoned some of the funds for personal use, and used other victim funds to pay off earlier investors in a ‘Ponzi-like’ scheme.
‘We allege Pina offered a ridiculously high rate of return to investors, then took the millions he got and invested it in himself,’ said Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy of the FBI’s Newark field office.
‘History has proven time and again, Ponzi-schemes don’t work. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow eventually runs out. Investors take note – it’s your money, don’t let them steal it,’ he added.
‘Pina and his business partner, a well-known disc jockey and radio personality (‘Individual-1′), operated a company that conducted real estate seminars around the country,’ states the complaint written by Pankaj Sharma, a special agent with the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
‘Together, they used Individual-l’s celebrity to promote various real estate enterprises that Pina controlled,’ added Sharma.
‘During real estate seminars, private one-on-one sessions, advertisements, public appearances, and otherwise, Pina represented that he was a highly successful real estate investor, owned thousands of properties in multiple states, and had business relationships with numerous celebrities.’
The victim investors reportedly started to invest in various properties, and they were planning to purchase or renovate those projects. Pina promised returns of around 20% to 45%, but he started operating multiple schemes of similar formats to pay the victims. He allegedly used the investors’ money for his benefit.
“As alleged in the complaint, Pina exploited celebrity status and social media to develop a devoted following of potential victims,” Sellinger said in a release. “Promising returns that were too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars. Our office is committed to protecting the public from these schemes and prosecuting those who lie to investors for their own personal gain.”
Pina, who gained fame doing real estate seminars around the country, would entice victims by promising up to 20% to 45% returns within five months, the U.S. attorney said. However, Pina did not invest the victims’ money, as promised, but used the money from new victims to pay others, operating a Ponzi-like scheme, officials say.
United States Attorney’s Office revealed that Cesar Pina has been released on a bond of $1 million after being presented in front of the U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel. Further, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger stated that Pina used his celebrity status and social media to target people.
“Promising returns that were too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars. Our office is committed to protecting the public from these schemes and prosecuting those who lie to investors for their own personal gain.”
NBC New York states that Cesar Pina was arrested by federal agents for operating a fraudulent real estate venture, swindling money worth millions from investors. DJ Envy has also been reportedly accused of being involved in the scheme, and the duo organized seminars to pitch opportunities to flip properties in different states.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Cesar was able to accumulate a lot of followers on social media with the seminars, along with other promotional activities.