DJ Envy’s Alleged Business Partner Arrested On Federal Wire Fraud Charges
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
DJ Envy’s alleged business partner, Cesar Piña, was arrested on federal wire fraud charges amid accusations that he headed a massive real estate Ponzi scheme that took millions from unsuspecting investors.
According to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, Piña was arrested in New Jersey and taken into custody on Wednesday (Oct. 18). After appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward S. Kiel in Newark federal court, Piña posted an $1 million secured bond, but has been subjected to electronic monitoring as part of the terms of his release.
According to the Feds, Piña is believed to have “falsely represented the nature of [his] business and lied about potential investment returns to bilk unsuspecting victims out of millions.” He is alleged to have promised investors huge returns by working with his real estate company Flip 2 Doa, but misappropriated the victims’ funds to clear debt and for other expenditures.
“Plain and simple, the defendant ran a fraudulent scheme,” Tammy Tomlins, Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office, said of Piña. “Today’s arrest highlights IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners’ commitment to investigate and prosecute unlawful behavior.”
DJ Envy, who promoted Piña’s real estate business on his The Breakfast Club radio show and conducted seminars for aspiring realtors and entrepreneurs, has proclaimed his innocence while disassociating himself from Piña. Last week, the Queens, N.Y. native denied any involvement in the alleged fraud scheme, insisting he never received any money from the defrauded investors and that he was unaware of the acts Piña is accused of committing.
“Let me explain some things,” DJ Envy said during a segment on The Breakfast Club. “My attorneys don’t want me to speak, but I think there are things that I need to clear up a little bit. Cesar and myself did seminars… Now, Cesar? If he took money, I wasn’t privy to it nor did I even know. But, I do understand how people feel if they did give him money, because I gave him a lot of money that I didn’t see a dollar of returned. But for anybody to say I was involved, that is totally not true. I would never.”
He continued, adding “I’ve been on radio close to 30 years and never in my 30 years’ time did I do nothing but try to uplift people and show people a different way through the business mind. And I would never take a dollar from somebody.”
If convicted, Piña faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine.
More from VIBE.com
