A New Jersey “idiot” was charged by federal prosecutors on Thursday with scamming 30 friends and family members out of $1.5 million through a not-so-elaborate Ponzi scheme.

River Vale, NJ’s William J. Wells, who ran Promitor Capital even though he wasn’t a registered adviser, was a “remarkably unsuccessful” trader who lost almost all of his clients’ money in bad trades, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

Wells used the cash from new investors to pay off personal credit card and private tuition bills, court papers allege.

“William Wells repeatedly lied to his investors, falsely claiming consistently positive returns, when in fact his trading was spectacularly unsuccessful,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil suit.

Wells’ scheme was so brazen that one of his alleged victims called him out in text messages earlier this year after trying unsuccessfully over two months to get his money back, court papers claim.

“You running a Ponzi scheme? Why the heck is this going down like this?” the victim asked Wells on March 27, after first requesting a $200,000 withdrawal in January, the complaint says.

When pressed further, Wells tried to cover up his alleged scheme by saying that some big trades had gone wrong.

“My explanation is that I’m an idiot and was trying to get some big trades to hit. To make you more money,” Wells said in a return e-mail.

At the time, Wells’ dinky fund had less than $1,000 in its account, even though the victim received statements saying he had $683,000.

Wells’ lawyer didn’t return requests for comment.