A former vice president of National Realty Investment Advisors in Secaucus was indicted on Friday for his role in a $2.3 million investment fraud scheme, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Ivel Turner, 51, of Newark, Delaware, was indicted by a federal grand jury with eight counts of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud.
He appeared Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon A. King in Camden federal court and was released on a $100,000 unsecured appearance bond and other conditions.
His arraignment is scheduled for February 4th before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton.
Turner was previously employed as vice president of project management for NRIA, which held itself out as a real estate investment management fund with over $1.25 billion in assets under management.
NRIA promised investors guaranteed returns of at least 12 percent per year for a period of five years, a full return of their investments, and monthly distributions of between six and ten percent of their original investments.
Turner had access to NRIA’s PPM, which made many such representations pertaining to NRIA’s purported returns on investment and distributions.
In April 2020, while still employed at NRIA, Turner incorporated Oasis Realty Investment Group (“ORIG”).
Turner, through ORIG, solicited real estate investors to purchase, finance, and co-develop residential units in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Turner used NRIA as a model for ORIG.
To induce investors to invest and continue to invest in ORIG, Turner made material misrepresentations and omissions related to, among other things: (a) ORIG’s financial position; (b) the manner in which Turner used investor money; and (c) Turner’s role at ORIG.
Turner also falsely represented to the victim investors that substantially all of ORIG’s proceeds would be used for real estate investment purposes, but instead, Turner misused hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor money on personal expenses, including luxury retail purchases, several vehicles, international travel, and a down payment on his residence.
The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
The securities fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $5,000,000.
The case comes after the New Jersey Bureau of Securities filed a civil enforcement action against Turner in December 2023, as HCV first reported.
Coincidentally, that came just one day after HCV published an exclusive report detailing how NRIA investors are still seeking refunds 18 months after the company was forced to close.
The bureau issued a cease and desist in June 2022 after determining that NRIA engaged in $630 million worth of securities fraud between 2018 and 2022.
Khanna credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Terence G. Reilly, with the investigation leading to the indictment.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
Ure usual excellent reporting Mr Heinis.