'Bogus, evil' Facebook con man gets extra two years

Eliyahu Weinstein was this week sentenced for two years on top of the 22 years he was already facing for a $250m Ponzi scheme. Photo / Thinkstock

A serial fraudster who stole almost $6 million from a New Zealand family in an elaborate Facebook stock scam has been described by a judge as "evil incarnate".

Eliyahu Weinstein was this week sentenced for two years on top of the 22 years he was already facing for a $250m Ponzi scheme that roped in Waikato farmer Gerald Chambers.

Weinstein duped Chambers into investing in Facebook stocks through a co-conspirator, Alex Schleider, ahead of the initial price offering last year. He had no idea "Eli" was already facing a fraud trial in relation to a $250m Ponzi scheme and used the money to fund his defence.

The Chambers secretly taped Weinstein admitting to taking their money. It was later used in evidence against him.

In the New York Supreme Court on Monday, Weinstein apologised to the Chambers family and promised to help recover their missing millions.

But Judge Joel A Pisano rejected his expressions of remorse.

"It's absurd for anyone to think that Mr Weinstein is now going to pull some rabbit out of a hat and all of a sudden this money is going to come back," he said.

"The fact of the matter is that he is evil incarnate. There's nothing about him that's not bogus, specious and evil.

"What we have is simply a person who is fraudulent in his very essence. That's all he is, he is a fraud. ... It's a lie, it's bogus."

The judge added, "This 'Give me back my BlackBerry' and he'll reconstruct the fraud and all of a sudden we'll unravel the Chambers deal is nonsense."

Judge Pisano said Weinstein had used political influence to try to get preferential treatment in prison, and made continual complaints he was not being treated in accordance with his religion.

"In one day, apparently there were over 50 complaints made.

"I don't know what they could possibly have been about, but in one day, and the warden said, 'Get this guy out of here'."

Co-accused Schleider was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his part in a real estate investment scheme that defrauded investors of more than $1m.

Last year, the Chambers launched a civil litigation in the New York Supreme Court against 27 defendants including rabbis, law firms and the congregation of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in New York.

The Chambers' lawyers allege the rabbis and synagogue defendants benefited from Weinstein's fraud and were aware the deals were "not kosher".

Gerald Chambers declined to comment.