Over the past five years, a New Jersey man allegedly amassed a personal multimillion-dollar collection of jewelry, clocks and watches through a $200 million scam that targeted Orthodox Jews.
The collection included Cartier Lovemanuscripts and antique Judaica items valued at about $6.2 million; a jewelry and clock collection that cost about $7.6 million; and jewelry and watches valued at $6.2 million, including items from Bulgari, Cartier Jewelry, Omega and Harry Winston, according to a criminal complaint unveiled on Thursday.
The items were stored in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Israel, according to prosecutors in Newark who brought the charges.
Eliyahu Weinstein, 35 years old, of Lakewood, N.J., allegedly used his contacts in the Jewish community to meet potential investors and falsely represented that he owned or could purchase properties.
"It is always offensive when someone steals from others to finance his own luxurious lifestyle, but it is especially galling to exploit a community with whom one shares an inherent trust," said Paul Fishman, Cartier Jewelry the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey. Cartier Love
A lawyer for Mr. Weinstein didn't immediately respond to a call for comment. At a hearing Thursday, Mr. Weinstein was ordered held without bail pending a detention hearing next week.
Mr. Weinstein often claimed to investors that he had another party lined up to buy or rent the property and they could earn a healthy profit in a short period, according to the complaint. The "buyers" were actually other members of the scheme, prosecutors said. When investors tried to collect earnings from their investments, Mr. Weinstein allegedly ignored them, made promises to pay or paid out a smaller amount, according to the complaint.
Many of the alleged victims were from New Jersey, New York, Florida, California and overseas. But he also allegedly defrauded a Chicago bank out of $6 million related to the purchase of a property in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn in 2006, prosecutors said.
Mr. Weinstein and his company, Pine Projects LLC, have been the subject of several civil lawsuits by Orthodox Jews who claim they were duped into real-estate investments.
Prosecutors have alleged another man, Vladimir Siforov, helped Mr. Weinstein carry out part of the alleged scam.
Mr. Siforov and Mr. Weinstein have been charged with wire fraud, and Mr. Weinstein has been charged with a separate count of bank fraud.
Mr. Siforov, of Manalapan, N.J., remains at large, prosecutors said. He couldn't be located for comment. Cartier Jewelry