Trump Commuted The Fraud Sentence For New Jersey Fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein. Now, Weinstein Is Back In Prison.

A federal court in New Jersey has convicted New Jersey fraudster Eliyahu ‘Eli’ Weinstein. The court sentenced Weinstein to 37 years for defrauding investors out of $35m.

Donald Trump using his power as president, had commuted a previous Weinstein sentence in 2021 for fraud. Now, the Feds are sending Weinstein back to federal prison for another fraud conviction.

New Jersey federal judge Michael Shipp sentenced Weinstein to 37 years in federal prison. Weinstein also uses the alias Mike Konig.

In addition, Shipp also ruled that Weinstein must pay $44,294,803 in restitution. Court documents show the order states Weinstein must pay it immediately. 

The court convicted Weinstein in March after a six week trial. Prosecutors charged Weinstein after he and Aryeh Bromberg defrauded dozens of investors out of $35m. Prosecutors have said Weinstein and others falsely promised investors access to deals. The deals involved shipping scarce medical supplies, baby formula and first-aid kits to wartime Ukraine.

This is the third time Weinstein had been convicted in a New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. The first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme. The second conviction stemmed from an additional fraud he committed while on pretrial release.

The first two cases cost investors approximately $230m. As a result, Weinstein was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

However, before leaving office in 2021 at the end of his first term, Trump commuted Weinstein’s sentence. Trump commuted it to time served after less than eight years into his sentence.

Prosecutors alleged Weinstein began orchestrating this last sceme as soon as Trump commuted his previous sentence. Weinstein secretly ran a company named Optimus through Bromberg. He and Bromberg kept Weinstein’s true name and identity hidden. They feared investors wouldn’t give them “a penny” if they learned of Weinstein’s involvement.