TOMS RIVER, N.J. (VINnews)-A Toms River businessman pleaded guilty Thursday to operating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that defrauded nearly 100 investors, many from the Orthodox Jewish community, out of more than $47 million.
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Leor Moshe, 43, admitted to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Trenton, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a potential fine of up to twice the amount of the illicit gains, or as much as $94 million. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16.
Prosecutors said Moshe used his Lakewood-based company, Capital Funding ASAP, to solicit investments between 2019 and 2023. He promised returns as high as 53% on short-term business loans to victims who largely had little prior investing experience.
Instead of investing the money, Moshe used funds from new investors to repay earlier ones and diverted about $11 million for personal expenses, including gambling debts, home renovations, mortgage payments and car loans, court records show.
“The defendant turned the trust of his own religious community into a tool for fraud, exploiting personal relationships to fuel a massive Ponzi scheme,” U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said.
Court documents detailed several transactions. In one case, an investor sent $380,000 to the company on Feb. 5, 2021; three days later, Moshe transferred $88,000 to his personal cryptocurrency account. In January 2023, he received $350,000 from two investors and the same day paid $262,000 to earlier investors. The following month, after receiving $2 million tied to a promised 53% return on a Jackson property investment, he paid $820,000 to five previous investors over the next three days.
An attorney for Moshe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
I feel for the victims. I really do. But if you have $2M to invest and you chase a 53% return, you have to look at yourself and ask whether it’s possible that your greed and desire for money is so overwhelming great that it blinds you to reality. If you want to carry a neon sign around that says, “I don’t actually believe in God, I just like the whole scene” then keep chasing more and more money. You cannot buy a stairway to heaven. And if you think that giving lots of charity absolves you of everything else, KNOW that it’s not your money to begin with, so of course the expectation is that you will allocate it with Justice. This is not your test, not does any reward stem from this. YOUR test is to be a kind, caring, humble, righteous servant of God. After all, He has taken care of your material needs, now you must serve him wholeheartedly. If you spend your time chasing more money and worse, you have negated your entire purpose of existence.
This type of fraud has been going on for years in every neighborhood. Boro park and flatbush had its share over the years. You don’t trust your money to anyone. I myself have accumulated over forty million dollars over the years. No partners. I don’t trust partners. I never give out money with these crooks. It’s an old gimmick. They get a few lawyers and rabbis backing them as real. Some of the crooks give a large donation in order to gain public trust. Hen you hear 18 percent 26 per cent and now 53 per cent. Run. Run run. As far as you can go. I have had crooks try to hit on me with their gimmicks. I put on a show as if I am crazy and they run. One guy who kept calling me every day with his make believe investment. I told him to come visit my house as I am sitting shiva for my cat. And I told him I put the cat in fridge. He freaked out. He probably thought I would do the same to him if he tried to rip me off. Never heard from him again.
RABOISAI!!!!! I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE ABOVE REFRENCED STORY!!! BUT I KNOW FIRST HAND OF OTHERS THAT DIDNT MAKE IT “YET” TO THE HEADLINES!!!!! PLEASE — IF YOU ARE NOT A SOPHISTICATED REAL ESTATE PERSON PLEASE STAY AWAY. I WOULD SAY CLOSE TO A BILLION DOLLARS HAVE BEEN WIPED OFF BY PHONY SYNDICATORS……. IF YOU HAVE SAVINGS AND REAL ESTATE IS NOT YOUR THING, PUT YOUR MONEY IN THE S&P 500 RATHER THAN IN A BOGUS INVESTMET THAT GIVES YOU 25% RETURN OR MORE. S&P 500 ALMOST DOUBLED IN THE LAST 5 YEARS. STAY FAR FROM THOSE ‘QUICK’ FAST BUCK DEALS.
IF YOU WANT TO GO IN TO REAL ESTATE, DO IT YOURSELF. ONE (SMALL) PROPERTY AT A TIME (PERHAPS A TWO FAMILY). DONT HAVE THE FUNDS? TAKE A 50/50 PARTNER. (NOT YOU PUT THE MONEY AT THE OTHER PARTNER WORKS) AND GO FROM THERE. ONE HOUSE AT A TIME AND THEN BUILDINGS IF YOU HAVE HATZLACHA!!! TRUSTING OTHERS WITH YOUR MONEY IS D A N G E R O U S!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see in the comments that everyone is asking how he could do this to other Yidden. You do realize that he should not be doing this to anyone, not just Yidden. It’s a huge Chillul HaShem, whether he does it to anothher Yid, and especially if he does it to Goyim.
PIECE OF DREK, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIS OWN.
I personally had to remortgage my home after many years of paying it off because he defrauded my son in law of 6 million dollars not judging just saying
If it sounds too good to be true, it is because it isn’t true.
You can’t get something for nothing, only nothing for something.
You can’t cheat an honest man.
Wake up people. Open your eyes. The entire mca business is a scam. It’s absolutely insane that it’s not being spoken out against on a daily business. It doesn’t just destroy the borrowers, it destroyers the lenders and everyone involved. I have 5 friends who invested $10k, $100k, $400k, $500k and $2mil. In different mca’s and somehow they all managed to lose 100% of their investment yet many in the industry have Bentleys and such. Speak out against it. This article doesn’t even mention that it’s cash advance. Maybe just maybe if we start taking about how terrible the industry is and how it affects everyone involved people will stop ignoring this. I’m sure this will get taken down but if one person can see it and open their eyes to this terrible industry that is only getting worse it will make a difference.
The guy must have some sort of personality disorder to be able to do that to another yid. Unbelievable, horrific.
I don’t know why I read through all the comments, but I did. And all I can do is paraphrase Ben Shapiro’s statement about Candace Owens: This comment thread was retarded, and I’ve been made retarded having read it.
I literally feel like I’ve lost IQ points just reading this. I can’t imagine how many points were lost by those participating in it. Sheesh!!!
At some point I was just scanning the posts so I’m not entirely sure if we reached the endpoint of Godwin’s Law yet. Although it’ll be really funny when we do.
Financial betrayal is a deep wound, especially when it targets a community based on trust. This kind of fraud is not just about money; it erodes the very foundations of community and faith. There is no excuse for preying on anyone, let alone your own people.
What an absolute shame!! It’s a shame what this low life did and it’s also a shame that all this money that people have to invest, primarily to enrich themselves (greed) could have so been used to help others in our rapidly growing community BH, to start a business, expand a business, and help to increase parnasa (which also incidentally enables more tzdaka be given) to so many others, obviously including to the investor themselves.
SPREAD YOUR WEALTH BY HELPING OTHERS DO THE SAME!!
rotten Jew, he deserves to sit in prison with the goyim and eat treif.
He has forfeited being a member of the tribe.
Finely justice has served for the 1st time between the frum yiden. Hope this Ponzi scams will stop one in for all.
Moshe Magaretten will lobby Trump for a pardon and he will be hailed a hero for doing Pidyan Shvuim
Mi K’Amcha Yisroel?
Just more affinity fraud.
I first met him over 20 years ago, but got out of touch with him as our lives went in different directions. He has a powerful personality and had a lot of potential to do good. I hope that he will repay the victims and do a teshuvah shleima. He was once a friend of mine, although I haven’t spoken to him in over 10 years. I feel terrible for the victims including his family.
I think the biggest personal lesson I see from this is that each day every one of us have the ability to make an impact on hundreds of other people, hopefully in a good way. I ask myself, did I do enough to help those around me? Is there anything that I should be doing differently?
I am not sure why people are stunned or shocked that he stole from yiden.
If you look at any statistics of criminality most criminals especially financial fraud is usually done to one’s own community.
One of the main reasons is simple people in the community trust their own so he knows it’s much easier to defraud his own than others.
I also know a certain supposedly frum woman who married a wealthy man in his 90s who’s not 100% baal das. The man’s kids and relatives were obviously not invited to the civil marriage and the age difference is something like 35 to 40 years. Now the man’s kids and the supposed wife are fighting each other in court claiming its a predatory marriage. Does anyone here have any knowledge or advice on how to deal with this al pi halocho or otherwise?
It’s very sad when these things happen. But it shouldn’t mean not to do business with each other. Invest in yiddishe businesses, just be very careful. Most people aren’t out to get you, but that doesn’t make them good at business.
In all of my years reading comments on the VIN site, I believe that the 328 comments regarding this matter, is an all time record!
When I reached a certain age, I said to my wife I cannot handle our investments any longer. We decided we would not use a local investment advisor as they have a tendency to get “slick” with their investors. We decided to give our money to JP Morgan. They are above this kind of nonsense, and they have given us about an 18% on our money. No Ponzi scheme. 18% not shabby over the last 3 years
“He promised returns as high as 53%. . . ”
If it sounds too good to be true, it IS too good to be true.
I feel bad for his wife and kids
Really embarrassing
Hope it’s not true
Big chill Hashem
When does the campaign to raise money for him begin?
u put in a big money for unbelievable returns your a shotah bc u have no se your a nar tipush and am haretz
A disgusting comment from a jealous human being! BTW what kind of maamin are you if you are plotzing from jealousy?
I don’t believe the whole story I know two or three people in toms River not one of them lost a penny, if the Jewish people have so much money to lose no organization really should be begging for money.
I don’t think the Jewish people are really the chosen people anymore I think we have to get over this lie, we’re just as good or bad as everybody else
This article is designed to elicit Lashon Hara, Motzi Shem Ra, and nasty comments about real people and communities. There are other places online we can go if we would like to see nasty stuff like that. Please take this down. TY.