A white-collar criminal whose prison sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump has been charged for allegedly orchestrating a new $35 million fraud scheme.
The Associated Press reports that 48-year-old New Jersey resident Eli Weinstein is among five men who have been charged in the scheme, which involved fraudulent deals for "scarce medical supplies, baby formula and first-aid kits" that were supposed to be sent to war-torn Ukraine.
Weinstein had previously been sent to jail for being involved in a real estate Ponzi scheme, and also for a separate fraud scheme that he ran while he was on pre-trial release for the original fraud scheme.
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but his sentence was cut short on January 19th, 2021 when Trump commuted his sentence on his way out of the White House.
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After being released from jail, prosecutors allege, Weinstein almost immediately went to work on a new fraud scheme involving his four codefendants.
"Shortly after he was released, Weinstein began orchestrating a new scheme to solicit money from investors through a company called Optimus Investments Inc., according to court documents," reports the AP. "Using a fake name... because, as he acknowledged in a secretly recorded conversation, investors wouldn’t give them 'a penny' if they learned of his involvement."
