TRENTON, NJ — A New Jersey Ponzi schemer, whose 24-year prison term for fraud convictions was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021, is headed back behind bars for another multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein, 51, was sentenced on Nov. 14 to 37 years in federal prison for falsely promising investors access to supplies bound for war-torn Ukraine, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp imposed the sentence on Weinstein and ordered him to make $44,294,803 in restitution.
Weinstein, of Lakewood, New Jersey, stood trial earlier this year and was found guilty on March 31 of 15 of 17 counts in a federal indictment charging securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements to and concealing material facts from the United States Probation Office, obstruction of justice, and conspiracies to commit those crimes. He was acquitted of two obstruction charges.
Before the case, Weinstein was twice convicted in federal court of defrauding investors out of a total $230 million, according to federal prosecutors. In 2014, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a $200 million real estate Ponzi scheme from 2004 to 2011. His prison term was extended by two years for committing additional fraud in 2014 while he was on pretrial release in the first case.
