NEWARK, N.J., Aug. 12 (UPI) — Court papers say a member of an Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood, N.J., has been running a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $200 million.
Federal authorities arrested Eli Weinstein Thursday, charging him with conducting a long-running real estate scam in which he sought numerous investments from Jewish community members, but never purchased any of the properties, the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger reported.
Weinstein was charged with wire fraud and bank fraud. On various occasions, he “forged or created multiple deeds, transfer documents, corporate documents and other financial records and convinced his ‘investors’ to loan or invest hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire interest in properties,” a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, N.J., reads.
Weinstein is also the target of several civil lawsuits. One lawsuit says he duped a Florida resident, Harvey Wolinetz, out of $80 million, which Wolinetz expected would be used to buy property in New Jersey, Georgia, New York, Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
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