It has been a rough few days for DJ Envy (born RaaShaun Casey). Envy’s name trended on social media all week after stories suggested the iHeartRadio host could be in some serious legal trouble.
Last week, news broke that federal officials arrested DJ Envy’s business partner, Cesar Pina (aka Flipping NJ), for allegedly defrauding dozens of real estate investors.
People began to wonder what role, if any, DJ Envy played in the alleged Ponzi scheme. Envy repeatedly promoted Pina on The Breakfast Club show. The two men also ran seminars together on how to flip houses to make a profit.
According to a new report by legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff, it appears Envy could be working with the federal government. Attorney Massimo D’Angelo insisted that his client is one of Pina’s victims in this case.
“Obviously, Envy is going to be assisting and cooperating fully,” Massimo D’Angelo is quoted telling Meghann Cuniff. “He paid out substantial sums similar to some of the other investors who thought they were getting money back.”
D'Angelo says Envy invested $500K with Pina but "didn't get any money back."
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) October 24, 2023
"He paid out substantial sums similar to some of the other investors who thought they were getting money back."
D’Angelo claimed Envy invested $500,000 with Cesar Pina but he never saw any return on his investment. That is a similar stance the Hip-Hop media personality took when addressing Pina during a broadcast of The Breakfast Club.
“Now, Cesar? If he took money, I wasn’t privy to it nor did I even know,” stated DJ Envy on October 11. “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.”
Envy also said, “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.”
Federal prosecutors believe Pina exploited celebrity status and social media to entice his potential victims. Additionally, Pina and his wife Jennifer Pina face at least twenty civil lawsuits. Some plaintiffs named DJ Envy as a co-defendant as well.