What’s Going On With DJ Envy’s Ponzi Scheme Allegations?
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This week, real estate investor Cesar Piña was arrested on a federal wire fraud charge in what federal authorities are calling a “multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment fraud scheme” that defrauded New York and New Jersey area investors. Piña is a business associate of DJ Envy, real name Raashaun Casey, who is an accomplished DJ and co-host of New York radio station Power 105’s popular The Breakfast Club morning show.
Casey has repeatedly called Piña his “partner” publicly. The two ran real estate seminars and shopped a real estate reality series together. Piña, his wife Jennifer Piña, and Casey are facing civil litigation from numerous investors claiming that they were swindled out of millions. Casey has denied any wrongdoing and claims that he was defrauded out of $500,000 by Piña. During an Instagram Live, Piña said that Casey “was his partner and investor,” but also denied his involvement in the allegedly fraudulent transactions that he was sued over. Despite both men’s claims, some are wondering what legal consequences Casey may face for his proximity to Piña.
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In a statement, New Jersey District Attorney Phillip Sellinger claimed that “promising returns that were too good to be true, Piña allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars.” Piña and his wife Jennifer created several real estate companies, including Start 2 Flipping and Flip 2 Dao. Cesar’s site claims that he owns over 1,100 properties in Paterson, New Jersey. In 2021 he published Flipping Keys, a biography billed as a “no holds barred” book “taking you behind the doors of a man who transformed his life, from dealing drugs, to now making multi-million-dollar deals.” Piña was previously convicted of credit card fraud and drug-related offenses, being sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in 2005. He got into real estate upon returning home.
Federal authorities allege that Piña promised property investors returns in the range of 20% to 45% within five months, which they deemed “ridiculously high.” But they claim that the Piñas wouldn’t put the investors’ money into properties, they would spend it on themselves or pay back previous investors.
In July, Anthony Barone and Anthony Martini filed a lawsuit against Piña (and Casey), claiming they lost $1.5 million after investing in a 50-unit building called Taylor Apartments that was never completed. In August, Casey filed a motion to dismiss the Martini and Barone lawsuit, alleging that he was never an employee of Flip 2 Dao and that his name was being used to stoke headlines. Also in July, Paul Peralta called Piña’s real estate service a “Ponzi scheme and investment scam” that defrauded him out of $600,000. Peralta’s lawsuit referenced that the alleged scheme was promoted on “a radio show called The Breakfast Club.” In a recent Instagram Live session before his arrest, Piña claimed to be facing “20 lawsuits.”
Casey has had Piña on The Breakfast Club in the past and frequently extolled their real estate endeavors on the platform. In 2022, 50 Cent was shopping a reality show called Property Players to A&E, which was to purportedly document Piña and Casey’s real estate operation. In a promotional video for the show, Casey proclaims, “I have a real estate business with my partner Cesar, and we own more than 2,000 properties valued at around 100 million dollars. Cesar and his family are part of my family.” The two frequently hosted real estate seminars. In one recently unearthed promotional clip, Casey advertised a then-upcoming event by noting that they would be raffling “landlord“ chains (which scratch out the word “trap” in the middle of the other two words, visually symbolizing an elevation from “trap lord” to “landlord”). Piña was frequently pictured with the “landlord” chain.
In October of 2021, Casey told rapper-podcaster Maino about his journey with real estate on Maino’s Kitchen Talk podcast, noting that he “didn’t know what he was doing” in real estate until he met Piña, who he called “his partner.” Casey said that Piña advised him, “You don’t use your money, you use other people’s money to get these deals.” Maino replied, “That’s where the confusion comes in…when you say not using your own money to buy a house, what are you actually using?” Casey replied that instead of “conventional lenders” they work with “hard money lenders” who are more likely to invest because of the profit potential. He also noted that when he tried to get podcaster and former rapper Joe Budden to invest with him, Budden told him his model was a “Ponzi scheme and he would go to jail.”
Earlier this month, Casey used a Breakfast Club segment to address “a million and one” accusations against him (which he said he was doing against the advice of his attornies). He said that he did seminars with Piña to “uplift my community” and teach people about generational wealth. “Now Cesar,” Casey clarified, “if he took money, I wasn’t privy to it nor did I know.” He also said that he gave Piña “a lot of money that I didn’t see a dollar in return.” During a recent Instagram Live session, Piña claimed that “DJ Envy has nothing to do with these 20 lawsuits,” Casey “wasn’t in the room” during the deals, and agreed with the DJ’s assertion that the people including him in the lawsuits are doing so because he’s a public figure.
During a recent Instagram Live session with social media personality Tony “The Closer” Robinson, Casey reiterated, “[me and Piña] don’t have any dealings with each other,” and said, “[Piña] doesn’t owe me money, we partnered on an investment together,” citing a Detroit school they invested in that has yet to be constructed. In August, Casey filed a defamation suit against Robinson, a real estate investor whose Twitter page notes, “I expose scammers.” Robinson posts frequently about Piña and Casey on his Instagram page, alleging that they were running a scam.
Casey’s defamation suit accuses Robinson of “false, defamatory, slanderous, and malicious assertions” that he is a ”thief,” “criminal,” and “scammer” involved in a “Ponzi scheme” that’s “stolen millions.” His attorney Massimo D’Angelo noted, “Now my client has to pay, out-of-pocket, for defense fees and costs to combat these frivolous cases. The fact that my client had no involvement in any of these schemes, but you have parties suing him based on Instagram posts, I do not think that has ever happened in the history of the law.”
Reporter Meghan Cundiff recently revealed that D’Angelo told her that Casey planned to fully cooperate against Piña, noting, “[Casey] paid out substantial sums similar to some of the other investors who thought they were getting money back.” Piña is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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