Lakewood Lawyer Faces Decades in Prison in Federal Fraud Cases

Another domino falls in the investor fraud scheme that's embroiled former Lakewood financier Eli Weinstein. Attorney Fred Todd, 61, pleaded guilty today in a Trenton federal courtroom to charges related to bogus transactions for Facebook stock and Florida real estate.

According to the U.S. States Attorney office for the District of New Jersey, case documents and court statements revealed that "Todd, an attorney with offices in Seaside Heights, New Jersey and Los Angeles California, handled transactions for his clients Weinstein and Aaron Glucksman, 41, of Brooklyn, New York.

The U.S. Attorney's press release states that "in February 2012, Todd and his conspirators offered a pair of investors the opportunity to purchase large blocks of Facebook shares prior to the company's initial public offering, or IPO, in May 2012. However, Weinstein and his conspirators did not actually have access to the shares."

"Based on misrepresentations by the conspirators, the Facebook victims wired millions of dollars between February and March of 2012 to an account Weinstein and a conspirator controlled. However, the conspirators did not use any of the Facebook victims' money to purchase Facebook shares, instead, misappropriating it for their own use."

"Around the same time, Todd and his conspirators also persuaded victims to invest in the purported purchase of an apartment complex in Florida. The told the victims that Weinstein had the opportunity to purchase the notes on the condominiums at a discounted price and immediately flip it at a substantial profit. The victims wired money to complete the purchase but Todd and his conspirators instead used the money for their own purposes."

Todd could get 20 years a piece for wire fraud conspiracy and transacting in criminal proceeds. Weinstein and Glucksman also pleaded guilty and face decades in prison for this case and previous financial criminal activity.