The Breakfast Club host DJ Envy could have some serious legal issues.
Federal agents arrested his former business partner, Cesar Pina, earlier this week for allegedly orchestrating a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud dozens of investors. DJ Envy promoted the 45-year-old social media influencer on his iHeartRadio show. They also worked together to present real estate seminars.
According to NBC New York, the feds visited the iHeartRadio offices and removed electronic equipment as part of the investigation. DJ Envy has denied any wrongdoing in connection to Pina. The Queens, New York native attempted to distance himself from Pina during a recent segment of The Breakfast Club.
“Now, Cesar? If he took money, I wasn’t privy to it nor did I even know,” DJ Envy said on the October 11 episode of his morning radio program. “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’ve been on radio close to 30 years and never in my 30 years’ time did I do nothing but try to uplift people and show people a different way through the business mind. And I would never take a dollar from somebody.”
As of press time, the federal government hasn’t charged DJ Envy with any crimes. Pina pleaded not guilty and secured a release on a $1 million bond with electronic monitoring. If convicted of wire fraud, Pina faces a possible maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
“As alleged in the complaint, Pina exploited celebrity status and social media to develop a devoted following of potential victims,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger stated in a press release issued on October 18. “Promising returns that were too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars. Our office is committed to protecting the public from these schemes and prosecuting those who lie to investors for their own personal gain.”