AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Apr. 20--ASBURY PARK -- In what state investigators call a classic "Ponzi" scheme, the owner of a Bangs Avenue real estate company and two associates have been accused of defrauding investors of more than $8 million, the state Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the state Bureau of Securities filed civil court papers freezing the assets of REI Group Inc., and of its president, Colts Neck resident Gary S. Klein.
State investigators and detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office searched the company's headquarters during a midday raid, and also searched Klein's $1.9 million Hambletonian Way house in Colts Neck. REI owns and is headquartered at the former New Jersey Natural Gas building at 601 Bangs Ave.
In addition to the civil case brought by the bureau, a criminal investigation has begun, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said.
The state charged that Klein and two employees promised investors in New Jersey and Florida substantial guaranteed returns on their investments, as high as 85 percent.…