North Jersey man admits role in massive $658M real estate Ponzi scheme
A North Jersey man admitted on Tuesday to his role in a massive $658 million real estate Ponzi scheme, officials said.
Thomas Nicholas Salzano, 65, of Secaucus, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark. Salzano was the “shadow chief executive officer” of National Realty Investment Advisors LLC and orchestrated the scheme that defrauded more than 2,000 investors and evaded millions in taxes, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Salzano made “numerous misrepresentations to investors while he secretly ran NRIA behind the scenes,” per Sellinger.
“His greed and flagrant disregard for the law caused staggering losses in excess of $650 million,” Sellinger stated. “This office will continue to prioritize prosecuting individuals, like Salzano, to ensure that those who engage in rampant fraud are punished with long jail sentences and are ordered to make their victims whole.”
As part of the plea Salzano agreed to an eight-to-12-year prison sentence and to forfeit $8.52 million and restitution to the victims of $507.4 million.
From February 2018 to January 2022 Salzano and others defrauded investors through lies, deception, omissions and misleading statements, Sellinger stated. It involved “thousands of emails to investors; advertisements on billboards, television and radio; and meetings and presentations to investors,” according to Sellinger.
It was all to fool investors into thinking National Realty Investment Advisors generated significant profits when in fact the company produced little to no profits, per Sellinger. It was instead kept afloat by the new investors’ money, which was then misappropriated to support the defendants “lavish lifestyle,” the U.S. attorney stated.