A prominent New Jersey property expert identified online as “Flipping NJ” has entered guilty pleas on multiple criminal charges, including orchestrating an investment fraud operation resembling a Ponzi scheme.
Court documents reveal Pina collaborated with a well-known radio personality to host real estate training sessions across the country, leveraging his growing digital following to attract potential backers.
However, authorities allege Pina instead diverted the collected funds, using them to repay earlier investors through a Ponzi-like structure while also covering unauthorized personal and business expenditures. The deception left numerous investors financially ruined, with total losses reaching millions.
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Beyond the investment fraud, prosecutors say Pina conspired to clean money obtained from illegal drug sales for individuals involved in narcotics operations. He also stands accused of paying off a Paterson municipal employee to influence zoning decisions on a development project pending before the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment through cash payments and other improper incentives.
Sentencing for Pina is scheduled for March, with potential penalties including up to 20 years imprisonment on each fraud and money laundering charge. Separately, his wife Jennifer Pina faces her own legal troubles after allegedly destroying her smartphone upon FBI arrival to execute a search warrant and attempting to interfere with the investigation by pressuring a witness through a friend to halt cooperation with federal agents.
“It is hard to imagine a more varied spate of criminal activity, which robbed investors of their life savings, helped facilitate drug trafficking, and undermined confidence in our elected officials,” U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said in a statement.
