Ponzi schemer Eliyahu 'Eli' Weinstein indicted in swindle involving war-torn Ukraine

NEWARK – Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein, a Lakewood man who was freed from prison by former President Donald Trump after being convicted of two frauds that cost investors $230 million, was indicted Tuesday along with another Lakewood man in another fraud scheme.

Weinstein, 48, who went by the name Mike Konig, and Aryeh “Ari” Bromberg, 49, were charged in the federal indictment with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Three of their co-defendants, Christopher Anderson, 47, Richard Curry, 36, and Alaa Mohamed Hattab, 35, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Sentencing is pending.

Charges are still pending against two others who authorities allege to be co-conspirators, Joel Wittels of Lakewood and Shlomo Erez, a citizen and resident of Israel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“As alleged, soon after Weinstein got out of jail after receiving a Presidential commutation, he picked his Ponzi schemer’s playbook back up,” U.S. Attorney Pjilip R. Sellinger said of the $35 million scheme.

Authorities charged that Weinstein used a fake name and worked with Bromberg and others to falsely promise access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula, and first-aid kits said to be headed to war-torn Ukraine.

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Weinstein was convicted two times in federal court in New Jersey for defrauding investors. His first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme that spanned from 2004 through 2011 and the second case stemmed from additional fraud he committed while on pretrial release in 2014, according to court documents.

Weinstein was sentenced to 24 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

On Jan. 19, 2021, after Weinstein had served less than eight years, Trump on the day before his presidential term ended commuted Weinstein’s term to time served, eliminating the rest of his sentence.

After his release, Weinstein began a new scheme to solicit money from investors through a company called Optimus Investments Inc., Sellinger said. Under the alias "Mike Konig," Weinstein ran Optimus with Bromberg and Wittels, who kept Weinstein's true identity hidden because, as Weinstein acknowledged in a secretly recorded conversation, investors wouldn’t give them “a penny” if they learned of Weinstein’s involvement.

Weinstein, Bromberg and Wittels received most of the investor money through a second company, Tryon Management Group LLC, which was owned and controlled by two other conspirators, according to court documents.

In February 2022, almost immediately after Tryon and Optimus started receiving investor money, Tryon was unable to pay its investors, Sellinger said. Instead of telling investors, Weinstein, Bromberg and Wittels agreed with Tryon’s owners to pool money from existing investors of both Optimus and Tryon and use it to make monthly payments to other investors in a Ponzi-like fashion.

In secretly recorded conversations, Weinstein discussed his intent to conceal his various assets from the government. During one conversation, Weinstein referenced hidden assets that he “can’t touch” while on supervised release because he’d otherwise “go to jail," then boasted, “I just told you something that no one in the world knows because I hid money. Get it?”

The conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction charges are each punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison. The obstruction charge carries maximum fines of $250,000 or twice the gain of loss from the offense, whichever is greatest. The maximum fine for the conspiracy and securities fraud charges is $5 million.

The conspiracy and wire fraud charges are punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of either $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.