NJ real estate influencers, radio DJ (DJ Envy) accused of defrauding almost $2 million

OmegaRed

Jul 11, 2023

From: North Jersey
northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/paterson/2023/07/11/bergen-real-estate-influencers-accused-in-lawsuit-of-fraud/70391585007/#:~:text=A%20New%20Jersey%20real%20estate,results%20to%20show%20for%20it.

A New Jersey real estate influencer couple and a well-known radio DJ are at the center of a lawsuit claiming they conned two men into investing $1.5 million in apartments in Paterson with no results to show for it.

Anthony Barone and Anthony Martini filed a suit in state Superior Court in Passaic County on July 6, seeking a number of damages, including compensatory, consequential and punitive damages. The lawsuit says Barone and Martini invested in a 50-unit apartment building project on Main Street in Paterson.

The pair say Bergen County residents Cesar and Jennifer Pina "disappeared," taking their money and leaving Barone and Martini with "nothing to show for their investments."

The phone number for Cesar Pina's one-on-one real estate consultation business did not have voicemail set up.

MEDIA=instagramCug-agaMkis/MEDIA

The suit says that in 2018, Barone heard radio personality DJ Envy of Power 105.1, whose real name is RaaShaun Casey, talk about his partnership with the Pinas. According to the suit, Casey would buy undervalued homes in Paterson and flip them to sell or rent them "for positive cash flow on a short-term investment."

Casey did not immediately respond to an email for comment.

In 2019, the Pinas and Casey "specifically promoted" the Taylor Apartments investment to Barone and Martini. That September, Cesar Pina sent Martini a formation certificate and stock purchase agreement to purchase 25% of Taylor Apartments to own and develop the project, the lawsuit says. Jennifer Pina had the remaining interest in the project.

According to the lawsuit, the Pinas told them the project was already funded with a $2.5 million investment from Jennifer and a construction loan for $3.5 million. The $5.6 million estimated construction cost would be covered by the investment and construction loan, and Martini's investment would have covered cost overruns and operating costs until the units were rented or sold.

After having lunch with Casey and Cesar Pina, Barone was convinced to buy into the project. Cesar Pina asked for a $1 million investment for 25% ownership, but Barone didn't want to invest that much money, the suit says. Instead, it was agreed that for $500,000, Barone would get a 12.5% stake.

"According to the Pinas, the $7 million in then-existing assets and Barone's $500,000 investment were more than sufficient to cover all of the costs to complete construction of the Taylor Apartments Project and to fund operating costs until all the units could be sold or rented," the lawsuit says.

The suit says Martini's signature was needed to add a new member to the company but wasn't "immediately provided," but Cesar Pina emailed Barone documents that supposedly contained Martini's signature. The suit claims the Pinas forged Martini's signature.

Cesar Pina told Barone there were construction delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Barone said that in late 2021, Cesar Pina told him construction had begun and would continue straight through 2022 until it was completed and that the pandemic had sent rent prices through the roof., which would mean they would make more money than previously stated.

The lawsuit says Martini asked about the construction status and was told it was continuing, when in fact no construction was done in 2020 and most of 2021. Cesar Pina assured the men that the project would be completed in 2022 but continued to push the completion date back. When Martini drove past the project site in August 2022, no progress had been made over a year. The lawsuit claims that only the foundation has been poured for the project.

Martini repeatedly demanded his money back, the suit says, but Cesar Pina kept putting him off or not answering.

Barone invested $300,000 in Flip2Dao, another real estate investment trust from the Pinas, which the suit says used similar "fraudulent tactics." According to the lawsuit, Flip2Dao would allow people to use cryptocurrency or credit cards to own fractional shares of a building for as little as $100.

"The Pinas did not stop with Taylor Apartments, apparently emboldened, they next solicited Barone and Martini to purchase fractional shares of real estate, marketing the investment opportunity as a real estate investment trust," the suit says.

As part of the operating agreement, each owning member was given the right to review the books and the company was required to provide quarterly and annual reports, which the suit says the Pinas never did.

The lawsuit says Barone contacted Casey to confront him after seeing an Instagram post about how the Pinas and Casey were running a $13 million-plus "Ponzi scheme." He contacted a co-founder and an attorney who was allegedly involved with Flip2Dao, but they told him they were not. Several other people began posting on social media to report that they had been defrauded, the lawsuit says.

Barone demanded his money back, and the lawsuit says the Pinas have not responded to further requests for money to be returned and they appear not to be living in their home in Franklin Lakes.

Recent Instagram posts show Jennifer Pina in Miami. Cesar Pina's Instagram account is no longer active, but the couple's flipping_nj account posted a video on July 10.

"As far as Barone can determine, the Pinas simply took his money for their own personal uses or to pay off other victims of earlier schemes," the lawsuit says.