The Real Estate Bloggers

Antoinette Hodgson of New Jersey Runs 45 Million Dollar Real Estate Ponzi Scheme

Posted: 17 Jun 2010 07:15 AM PDT

Woman-prison When the market turns south the scams come out of the woodwork. Antoinette Hodgson of New Jersey is accused of running a ponzi scheme that took 45 million dollars from investors in her real estate business.

It is a classic story, she was going to rehab the homes and then share the profits. When the market went down, Hodgson is accused of running off to Vegas and Atlantic City instead.

I wonder if her defense will be that putting the money on the roulette table in Atlantic City was a better bet than putting money into homes in 2007. I mean, we know at that stage properties were dropping. She may have had a better chance of getting a return from Caesars.

Antoinette Hodgson, 58, allegedly bilked more than 20 investors in New York and New Jersey of tens of millions of dollars, allegedly telling her victims she was using their money to buy and renovate homes and sell them for high returns, prosecutors said.

However, authorities said, she allegedly used the money to repay previous investors in the pattern of a classic Ponzi scheme, according to a complaint unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court.

Authorities said Hodgson allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and spent more than $700,000 on a Dunkin Donuts franchise in Arizona, according to court papers. She also allegedly gave tens of thousands of dollars to friends and family members, according to court papers.

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Antoinette Hodgson of New Jersey Runs 45 Million Dollar Real Estate Ponzi Scheme