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Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein, shown here leaving court in May 2013 in a different case, was sentenced by a federal judge today to 22 years in prison for masterminding a five-year, $200 million global investment fraud authorities said. He was also ordered to pay $430 million in restitution and forfeiture.

(Frank Conlon/The Star-Ledger)

In 2004, when Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein began what would become one of the largest investment frauds ever prosecuted in New Jersey, the onetime car salesman used the trust and business customs long embedded in Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community to his great advantage, authorities say.

Weinstein knew that in Lakewood, like some other Orthodox Jewish communities, business deals could often be based on a handshake, authorities say. And he knew that he could convince investors to give him large sums of money without having to give them extensive written records in return.

He also realized, authorities say, that pouring some of the money he swindled back into local charities and religious organizations would help him maintain his community standing and possibly help him secure future deals.

Today, in federal court in Trenton, Weinstein was given a 22-year prison sentence for his admitted role as the mastermind of a seven-year, $200 million real estate-based investment fraud that stretched from the U.S. to Israel. He also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano to pay restitution of $215.4 million and a forfeiture amount of $215.4 million.

Pisano decided that, currently, Weinstein is able to pay about $1,000 a month toward the money he owes.

Meanwhile, Weinstein, 38, has a separate federal case pending. Last May, he was charged with fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing $6.7 million from a New Zealand-based investor by convincing him that he had an inside track to shares of Facebook’s initial stock offering.

In reality, alleges U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, those shares of Facebook didn’t exist. At the same time, as part of Weinstein’s then-conditions for remaining free on bail, he had been barred from entering into money transactions above $1,000.

“I think we got a fair hearing,” Weinstein’s defense lawyer, Eric Creizman, said today after the hearing in the investment fraud. “I just wish it came out differently.”

Creizman said Weinstein is “upset” at the prospect of the prison time he faces. He also called him a “charitable” man and said that in running the Ponzi scheme investment fraud, Weinstein “didn’t want to hurt anybody, he wanted everything to work out in the end.”

Many of Weinstein’s transactions involved those who knew him, or were introduced to him by others in the community.

One of his real estate deals involved Solomon Dwek, long before Dwek became the infamous informant behind the biggest corruption and money-laundering sting in New Jersey history.

In the recent history of New Jersey’s major swindlers, Weinstein’s name does not ring as loudly as Dwek’s, the fraudster-turned-FBI informant from an Orthodox Jewish community in Deal who was central to helping the feds crack open the corruption and money-laundering case. But the brazen nature of Weinstein’s cons stand out all the same.

From 2004 to 2011, Weinstein helped run a Ponzi-scheme fraud that moved from one victim to another, as he solicited investments for properties in places such as Ocean County and Brooklyn that he either never owned or had already sold, authorities have said.

He used phony deeds and fake documents to draw in investors who forked over millions of dollars and expected big returns on their money. And he attracted investors by telling them the plan was to quickly resell properties to a third-party purchaser that Weinstein said he had lined up, authorities say. He used some investors’ money to pay off others.

And the investors never got their big returns. Meanwhile, Weinstein used their cash to buy high-end personal items, such as Jewish religious and ceremonial items worth about $6.2 million. Later, he also took stolen funds and legal paid his legal fees with it, authorities say.

In January 2013, Weinstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in the investment fraud case.

Weinstein’s co-defendant, Vladimir Siforov, is charged in the same indictment with three counts of wire fraud and remains a fugitive, authorities have said.

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