That wasn’t much of a jail break.
A convicted New Jersey Ponzi schemer who was sprung from prison after a pardon from President Trump during his first term is headed back to the slammer for running yet another scam.
Eliyahu Weinstein, 51, of Lakewood, NJ, was granted clemency in 2021 — while serving a 24-year sentence for fraud — thanks to a lobbying push that included former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Now, after carrying out another scheme that began shortly after his release, the former used car salesman faces a 37-year sentence handed down by Judge Michael Shipp, who also ordered him to pay roughly $44 million in restitution to his victims.
Weinstein was convicted in March for ripping off 150 people to the tune of $35 million in a series of fraud schemes tied to medical and security supplies for Ukraine. His scam started the same year he was released from prison, according to prosecutors.
He was caught carrying out what prosecutors called a “brazen and sophisticated” scheme to trick investors into purchasing COVID-19 supplies – including “scarce baby formula” – and first-aid kits to assist those struggling in the war-torn country.
He, along with one co-defendant and five co-conspirators, swindled his victims through Optimus Investments Inc., where he was a “silent partner,” according to charging documents.
It was all part of a “Ponzi-like fraud scheme” that used new investor money to pay off earlier investors, prosecutors said.
Many of the people ripped off in his earlier real estate Ponzi scam were wealthy investors from the region’s Orthodox Jewish community. Prosecutors accused Weinstein of using his background as a former Yeshiva student to bilk investors in two earlier fraud schemes to the tune of $230 million.
He had pledged to turn his life around in a statement after getting a reprieve. But former US Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said Weinstein “picked up right where he left off.”
In one secret recording by co-conspirators that helped catch him following his release, Weinstein was caught saying, “I finagled, and Ponzied, and lied to people to cover us for our deals” diverting money from investors as part of an N95 mask scam to invest in the Turkish stock market.
Weinstein, also known as Mike Konig, was accused of showing investors “fabricated” documents showing baby formula that had been shipped from Turkey to Newark.
His successful effort to get out of jail in 2021 included hiring lobbyist Nick Muzin, who reached out to Meadows, the New York Times reported days after his release. Weinstein’s team also got advice from super lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
Weinstein had served seven years and eight months of his 24-year sentence at the time of his commutation.
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