Federal agents in New Jersey arrested the longtime business partner of popular radio host DJ Envy in connection to an alleged fraudulent real estate venture.
The arrest came a week after the News 4 I-Team reported investors claim they had been swindled out of millions of dollars.
Cesar Pina, often promoted on Envy's syndicated iHeartRadio show "The Breakfast Club," was arrested Wednesday on wire fraud. The federal complaint against Pina, 45, claims the man engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme to defraud dozens of victims.
Envy, whose real name is Rashaun Casey, was not charged. But many of the alleged victims say they were influenced by his celebrity.
Federal prosecutors said Pina amassed a "significant" social media following through his partnership with Envy to attract his investors. Envy & Pina frequently teamed up for seminars to pitch opportunities to flip properties, often in distressed areas of New Jersey.
“As alleged in the complaint, Pina exploited celebrity status & social media to develop a devoted following of potential victims. Promising returns that were too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Investors have said Pina promised he would rehab & flip a property, with a return of 30% of the profits within months. Dozens of his alleged victims have now filed lawsuits saying they never got their money back. In a number of cases, Pina is accused of getting multiple unwitting investors to buy into one property that generated him a profit of several millions dollars.
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Source: NBC New York
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