Ponzi schemer freed by Trump charged with new Ponzi scheme

A Ponzi scheme operator whose prison sentence was commuted by former US President Donald Trump has been charged with a similar fraud.

Eli Weinstein, 48, was among 143 people whose convictions were either fully pardoned or commuted in Mr Trump’s final hours in office.

But less than a year after release, Mr Weinstein allegedly launched a scheme to defraud at least 150 investors.

Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday he “picked up right where he left off”.

Mr Weinstein, of Lakewood, New Jersey, has previously pleaded guilty to two separate investment fraud schemes – in 2013, to a real estate Ponzi scheme, and in 2015, to wire fraud while on trial for the Ponzi scheme.