A New Jersey real estate influencer was indicted Thursday on numerous charges for running an alleged Ponzi scheme to generate his millions, the Justice Department announced.
Cesar Humberto Piña, 47, was known online as “Flipping NJ” until July 2023, when his operation began falling apart.
Piña promised investors returns of up to 30% in only four to five months, then took their money and spent it on personal items, according to the feds. Most of the money he did pay back was simply taken from new investors, authorities said.
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“Leveraging his social media prominence, it is alleged Cesar Piña provided services for narcotics traffickers, bribed a government official and defrauded unsuspecting investors out of millions of dollars, all for personal gain,” Newark IRS agent Jenifer L. Piovesan said in Thursday’s press release.
Piña attracted several famous partners while running the scheme, including DJ Envy of “The Breakfast Club,” who appeared at several real estate investment seminars alongside him. The DJ, whose legal name is RaaShaun Casey, was named alongside Piña in civil fraud lawsuits from Piña’s alleged victims. Casey has not been criminally charged.
On the other hand, Piña was charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of conspiracy and one count of bribing a public official.
Piña’s wife, Jennifer Iturralde Piña, additionally faces a federal charge destroying evidence. The feds said she destroyed a cellphone when agents arrived at the couple’s home to search it in March 2024.
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