New Jersey broker charged in $8M Ponzi scam

A New Jersey woman was charged today with raising $8 million through a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors in her purported wholesale merchandise business. Jenifer Devine, 39, promised annual returns of more than 200 percent to more than 15 investors in Devine Wholesale in Carlstadt, New Jersey, which “had virtually no income generating operations at all,” according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest complaint. Devine, who used money from new investors to pay earlier ones, stole tens of thousands of dollars to pay for personal expenses, including a cruise and other luxury items, Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney in Newark, New Jersey, said in a statement. Investors lost at least $2 million in Devine's business, which claimed to sell clothing and electronics, according to the FBI and Fishman. “Devine's wholesale business was wholesale fraud,” Fishman said. “Victims who were promised huge returns paid the tab for the defendant's vacation and designer goods.” Devine, of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, surrendered to U.S. authorities who charged her with mail fraud. She faces as many as 20 years in prison. She is scheduled to appear today in federal court in Newark. Her attorney, Dennis Calo, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. The case is U.S. v. Jenifer Devine, 10-cr-3199, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark). --Bloomberg