Bergen influencer accused of fraud wants to convert former Paterson school into apartments
PATERSON — A social media influencer accused by federal authorities of stealing millions of dollars through real estate fraud is asking the city of Paterson for approval to build 61 apartments at a long-vacant school.
The influencer, Cesar Pina, also is the target of numerous lawsuits in which real estate investors say Pina swindled them, allegations of Ponzi-like schemes that echo the criminal charges filed last month against him by the United States Attorney’s Office in Newark.
One of Pina’s companies is scheduled to appear before the Paterson Board of Adjustment on Thursday night for its application to convert the former School 5 building at 385-391 Totowa Ave. into housing.
What are Pina's plans for School 5?
Pina’s proposal would add three stories to the vacant three-story school, which the investor bought from the Paterson Board of Education for $1 million in 2018. Pina’s plans call for the construction of 10 apartments on each floor, with one in the basement for the superintendent. The project would include 40 parking spaces, less than half the 110 spots that the city requires for a project of that size, according to the zoning board agenda.
Current and former city officials said they don’t think Pina intends to build the project, especially considering his legal troubles. They said Pina likely is looking to get city approval for the housing to increase the value of his property before he sells it.
Neither Pina nor the lawyer representing his company before the Paterson zoning board responded to messages seeking their comments on the proposed housing development.
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh did not respond to an email on Monday asking whether he supports Pina’s proposal. Sayegh teamed up with Pina in one of his first press conferences, days after becoming mayor in July 2018, for an announcement that Pina was donating $30,000 to the Sayegh-connected One Paterson group to repair eight city ballfields.
Four months after that event, Pina finalized his purchase of the vacant School 5 building from city education officials, who as part of the deal agreed to pay $100,000 to cover Pina’s cost of removing old furniture and debris from the site. Sayegh at the time said he played no role in the district’s decision to sell the property to Pina.
Now, five years later, the building remains empty and unused.
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Social media stardom
Federal law enforcement officials say Pina used the celebrity of a partner who was a well-known radio personality and disc jockey to boost his social media following and gain credibility with investors, who became his victims. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not identify the disc jockey by name, but lawsuits say it was RaaShaun Casey, better known as DJ Envy.
“Pina exploited celebrity status and social media to develop a devoted following of potential victims,” said U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger. “Promising returns that were too good to be true, Pina allegedly defrauded dozens of people of millions of dollars.”
The federal complaint against Pina makes no mention of the vacant school on Totowa Avenue. The four locations involved in the alleged crimes were on Park and Manchester avenues in Paterson, Franklin Avenue in Hawthorne, and South Boyden Parkway in Maplewood.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cesar Pina proposes rebuilding Paterson's old School 5 as apartments
