Eliyahu Weinstein, 51, of Lakewood, New Jersey, had his 24-year sentence commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021. At the time, he had served 7 years and 8 months for two fraud cases that cost investors approximately 230 million USD. The commutation resulted from lobbying by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and advice from lawyer Alan Dershowitz. However, shortly after his release, Weinstein returned to his old ways.

Prosecutors stated that in the same year he was released, Weinstein began operating a series of new schemes, targeting 150 investors and swindling them out of a total of 35 million USD. Weinstein and his accomplices deceived victims by promising lucrative deals related to medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, baby formula, and soliciting donations for first aid equipment to support Ukraine.

Eliyahu Weinstein appearing at a federal courthouse in New Jersey in 2009 during his trial for two fraud cases. *Photo: Star-Ledger*

Prosecution documents revealed the group used Optimus investment company as a front, with Weinstein acting as a silent partner. Some documents Weinstein presented to gain investor trust, such as certificates for a baby formula shipment from Turkey to Newark, were verified as fake by investigators.

Investigators identified this as a pyramid scheme model, using money from new investors to pay older ones. Weinstein had previously been involved in a real estate pyramid scheme, defrauding wealthy investors from a local Jewish community.

In a secretly recorded conversation provided to investigators by an accomplice, Weinstein admitted to "defrauding, manipulating, and lying to cover up the deals," including using funds from an N95 mask scheme to invest in the Turkish stock market.

On 22/11, federal judge Michael Shipp in Trenton sentenced Weinstein to 37 years in prison and ordered him to pay over 44 million USD in restitution to the victims. This marks the third time he has been convicted in federal court in New Jersey. Judge Shipp concluded: "Mr. Weinstein received a rare gift in America: a presidential commutation. Just months after his release from prison and while still under supervision, he squandered this special gift by immediately defrauding investors of their hard-earned money," adding that Weinstein deserved "the harshest punishment."

By Thanh Danh, citing the New York Post, Associated Press, and Times.