Trump's independent Ponzi schemer accused him of creating another Ponzi scheme

 

A Ponzi scheme manager has been busted by the US. President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence for similar fraud.

Eli Weinstein, 48, was among 143 people whose convictions were either fully pardoned or commuted in Mr Trump’s final hours in office.

But less than a year after his release from prison, Mr. Weinstein reportedly began a scheme to defraud at least 150 investors.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that he "picked up where he left off."

Mr. Weinstein, of Lakewood, New Jersey, has previously pleaded guilty to two counts of investment fraud schemes - in 2013 for a real estate Ponzi scheme, and in 2015 for wire fraud in court in connection with a Ponzi scheme

His crimes cost his victims more than $224 million (£174 million) in total.

By the last year of Mr. Trump’s administration, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison over eight years.

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Those close to the then-president called for his release, saying Mr. Weinstein had not been given a fair trial.

The group includes Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who represented Mr. Trump in his first impeachment, and lobbyist Nick Muzin, a longtime associate of Mr. Trump’s chief of staff

On his last full day in office, Mr. Trump commuted Mr. Weinstein’s sentence and suspended him the same day.

But according to court documents unsealed in New Jersey federal court Wednesday, Weinstein orchestrated another Ponzi scheme to steal $35 million.

Using the false name "Mike Konig" to hide his criminal past, he and four associates created a phony bank account.

Potential investors were told their money would be used to make "beneficial connections for, among other things, Covid-19 masks, scarce baby food and first aid supplies to Ukraine."

New Jersey U.S. “These were frivolous and sophisticated crimes involving multiple conspirators and taken right out of the Weinstein fraud playbook,” attorney Philip Selinger said Wednesday.

Mr. Weinstein and his co-conspirators face up to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed suit against him and five others for his actions.