Cesar Pina, the celebrity house-flipper also known as DJ Envy‘s partner in real estate investing pursuits, was arrested on Oct. 18 on federal charges. He is accused of perpetrating “a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment fraud scheme,” according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
The allegations and charges have led to federal officials raiding the iHeartRadio office in New York and removing electronic equipment as part of the ongoing investigation, NBC4 reported. Envy, whose real name is Raashaun Casey, was not charged.
Here are five facts about Pina.
He’s still posting on social media
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Pina was released on a $1 million secured bond with electronic monitoring. After being released, he returned to Instagram to send a message to his 303,000 followers.
“Every negative is a positive,” a graphic Pina posted of 50 Cent read. “The bad things that happen to me, I somehow make them good. That means you can’t do anything to hurt me.”
The graphic came with a caption from Pina’s account.
“I’m still here!!!” the caption read. “Always moving forward, never [backward]!!!”
Nearly 20 years of experience in real estate
According to his official website, Pina started his real estate career in 2006.
The Envy era
Pina has worked with DJ Envy since 2018. The duo then began touring, creating seminars for people who wanted to learn the real estate business.
The two have since unfollowed each other on Instagram, Tony “The Closer” Robinson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on October 19.
Other celebrity clients
Other celebrity clients of Pina’s include Brandon Copeland, Don Omar, Kenny Britt, and Khalil Mack.
Fraud scheme allegation details
Pina is accused of accepting investments of millions of dollars from dozens of aspiring investors to buy, remodel, and sell real estate projects in New Jersey and other states. Pina allegedly promised 20 to 45% returns within five months but often used new victims’ money to pay off other victims and spent victim funds on personal use.
The charge of wire fraud has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the “gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense, or of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest,” the attorney’s office press release read.
Cesar Humberto Pina aka Flipping NJ & Raashaun Casey aka DJ Envy have unfollowed each other on Instagram 😱🧾 #RealEstateRico pic.twitter.com/5a4WrkNvAl
— Tony “The Closer” Robinson (@tonythecloser_) October 19, 2023
Other celebrity clients
Other celebrity clients of Pina’s include Brandon Copeland, Don Omar, Kenny Britt, and Khalil Mack.
Fraud scheme allegation details
Pina is accused of accepting investments of millions of dollars from dozens of aspiring investors to buy, remodel, and sell real estate projects in New Jersey and other states. Pina allegedly promised 20 to 45% returns within five months but often used new victims’ money to pay off other victims and spent victim funds on personal use.
The charge of wire fraud has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the “gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense, or of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest,” the attorney’s office press release read.
