Fraudster’s wife destroyed phone to protect husband from investigators, feds allege

The wife of a man accused of being part of a massive real estate investment fraud scheme allegedly destroyed her phone in an effort to deter a federal investigation, officials said.
Jennifer Iturralde Pina, 43, of Franklin Lakes, was charged with destruction of records and was released Tuesday on a $200,000 bond following her appearance in Newark federal court, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey.
Her husband, 43-year-old Franklin Lakes resident Cesar Humberto Pina, a.k.a. “Flipping NJ,” was charged on Oct. 16, 2023 with wire fraud after he allegedly used his large social media following to defraud victims out of millions of dollars in the scheme, the office said.
Cesar allegedly collected about $17 million from dozens of investors to renovate and resell four different residential properties in New Jersey, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
After he flipped and sold the homes for a profit, many investors reported receiving no payment or only being paid a small portion of their initial investment, investigators said.
After his release on bond, his wife learned that the government received evidence from a witness related to Pina’s case, federal prosecutors said. Shortly thereafter, she asked a friend to tell the witness to stop assisting the government.
In early March of this year, the government obtained search warrants for two of Jennifer’s phones – which the government believed she used in connection with the real estate fraud scheme and the attempt to discourage the witness from assisting the government – and one phone belonging to the friend, the office said.
On March 3 she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide one of her phones at the friend’s home, officials said.
Two days later, the friend’s family member called to tell Jennifer that law enforcement had just seized the friend’s phone, the release stated. Shortly thereafter, as police knocked on Iturraldes’ door to execute the warrant to seize her phones, she destroyed one of the phones, authorities alleged.
Cesar started accepting investments from the victims in 2017, federal prosecutors said. In the years prior to the alleged scheme, he partnered with a celebrity disc jockey and radio personality to hold real estate investment seminars around the country.
Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Chris Sheldon may be reached at [email protected].