DJ Envy Linked To Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Ponzi Scheme

Highlights

• DJ Envy, known for hosting The Breakfast Club, is facing backlash for his alleged involvement in a "ponzi scheme" related to a real estate venture.
• Investors who put money into the venture are claiming it was a scam and are expressing frustration at the lack of returns on their investments.
• DJ Envy has denied any involvement in the scheme, stating that he hosted seminars to educate his community about real estate and invested his own money in the project. His lawyer argues that Envy is being targeted due to his fame.

RaaShaun Casey, best known to fans as DJ Envy, is being criticized for his alleged involvement with a purported real estate "ponzi scheme."

DJ Envy is an American disc jockey known for hosting WWPR-FM (Power 105.1)'s show The Breakfast Club, alongside Charlamagne Tha God. An October 11th Yahoo! Finance item about the controversy around DJ Envy mentioned a specific large sum, $40 million:

"... DJ Envy is also considered a victim in what is being labeled as a '$40 Million Ponzi Scheme,' per [another outlet], his endorsement of the venture on his show, The Breakfast Club, as well as at seminars has landed him in several lawsuits. 'We’ve helped so many people, not just regular people, but celebrities, athletes, executives,' DJ Envy said about the investment opportunity on his radio show, according to NBC-4."

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Yahoo! Finance referenced (and largely rehashed) and October 10th article by New York City-area NBC affiliate WNBC. WNBC mentioned many specific sums in their article, but the $40 million figure did not appear in the article (nor was it present in archived versions).

WNBC indicated DJ Envy was "under scrutiny for promoting a real estate venture of a friend" (Cesar Pina), and that individuals who invested in the venture described it as a "scam" or ponzi scheme. The outlet spoke to a couple, Jose Santiago and Jessica Ortiz, and Santiago said he and his wife invested nearly a quarter of a million dollars:

"[DJ Envy was] advertising this [real estate venture] all over radio and television, so I thought this was legit ... We invested $200,000 and it looks like we won't ever get it back ... I am paying the interest right now every month, and I have nothing."

WNBC explained how the alleged real estate scheme was presented to prospective investors, and what transpired after they bought in:

"The pitch: to invest in run down properties that would be renovated and flipped for money. The promised return: up to 30% of the profits. In some cases, Cesar didn't even own the properties, including the one Santiago and Ortiz took $200,000 in equity from their Florida home to finance the project. They said they were told profits would come within four months, but they never saw a dime."

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Another dissatisfied investor, Nigel Chamblin, told WNBC that there were "other people investing in these exact same properties," adding that it "was a scam, it was a lie." Automotive shop owner Augie Rios said he invested $64,000, and "wouldn't have invested in Cesar if it wasn't for Envy."

On October 11th, DJ Envy addressed the real estate "ponzi scheme" allegations in an Instagram reel:

In the reel, DJ Envy first asserted that his attorney advised him against making any statements about the allegations; Charlamagne Tha God expressed agreement with Envy's lawyer. DJ Envy then began explaining the controversy from his perspective:

"Listen, so, Cesar and myself did seminars: now the reason I did these seminars is because I wanted to uplift my community. I wanted to teach my community about real estate - things that I didn't know when I was first buying my first home. I wanted to teach our community about investing in generational wealth. So I did these seminars and brought industry professionals to all these seminars. Whether it was real estate agents from different markets, contractors, uh, conventional lenders, hard money investors ... I even brought Auction.com to actually show people how to purchase houses online ... that's what I wanted to do for my people."

Envy continued, explaining that he also invested "a lot of money" in Pina's projects and reiterating that his goal was to introduce his community to investment opportunities:

"Now, Cesar? If he took money, I wasn't privy to it, nor did I even know. But I do understand how people feel if they did give him money, because I gave him a lot of money, that I didn't see a dollar of returned ... but for anybody to say I was involved, that is totally not true, I would never. I been on this radio - I been on radio for close to 30 years ... I would never take a dollar from somebody."

On October 12th, Billboard published an in-depth article about DJ Envy and the real estate controversy. In it, DJ Envy's lawyer Massimo F. D’Angelo maintained that his client was being unfairly targeted due to his fame, and said "Envy had no involvement whatsoever," and the "only reason he’s being dragged into this is because he’s a public figure."

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