Eli Weinstein Fraud How Trumps Pardon Unleashed a New Ponzi Scheme
- Eli Weinstein launched a new $44 million Ponzi scheme just months after his 24-year prison sentence was commuted by Donald Trump.
- He used the alias "Mike Konig" to trick investors into funding fake deals for COVID masks and baby formula during national shortages.
Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein is a man who seemingly cannot stop defrauding investors. His story is one of breathtaking audacity and a criminal instinct that prison could not cure. After orchestrating two massive Ponzi schemes and being sentenced to 24 years in federal prison he received a miraculous reprieve. In January 2021 Donald Trump commuted his sentence in one of his final acts as President. Weinstein walked free owing his victims over $200 million. Within months he was back in the game and secretly pulling the strings of a new fraud that would ensnare ambitious investors and destroy livelihoods.
This new chapter of deceit centered on a company called Optimus Investments. Weinstein operated from the shadows using the alias "Mike Konig" to hide his notorious past. He positioned himself as a logistics genius with deep connections in Turkey and Israel. His supposed expertise was in sourcing high demand items like N95 masks and baby formula during critical shortages. He spun a web of complex international deals involving government contracts and exclusive supply chains. In reality he was running a classic Ponzi scheme. He used money from new investors to pay off earlier ones while siphoning millions for his own luxury lifestyle.
Chris Anderson and Richard Curry were the perfect marks for Weinstein's operation. Anderson was a regional manager for a tire company who desperately wanted to be a player in the world of high finance. Curry was a former medical supply salesman with a history of shady dealings and unlicensed drug sales. Together they formed Tryon Management Group in New Jersey. They became the primary fundraising vehicle for Optimus and funneled millions from their friends and families into Weinstein’s black hole.
Weinstein’s "Optimus" pitch was seductive because it tapped into real world crises. When the COVID 19 pandemic created a desperate need for masks Weinstein claimed to have factories in Turkey churning them out. When a bacterial contamination shut down a major baby formula plant in Michigan Weinstein "found" a supplier to fill the gap. These deals offered rapid returns of 25% to 35% in just a few months. The fabricated paperwork and staged videos of loading docks made the opportunities look legitimate. Investors like Deirdre Virvo and Leslie Robertson poured their savings into Tryon believing they were doing good while making money.
The facade began to crack during a Caribbean cruise in January 2023. Chris Anderson who was known as a sober and disciplined businessman publicly imploded. He got drunk and demanded a divorce from his wife in front of his associates. His erratic behavior was a symptom of the immense pressure he was under. Months earlier he and Curry had discovered that "Mike Konig" was actually the infamous fraudster Eli Weinstein. Instead of alerting authorities or their investors they chose to keep the scheme running. They hoped that one big deal would finally pay off and allow them to escape the trap.
But there was no big deal. The money was not buying baby formula or masks. It was funding Weinstein’s gambling addiction and personal debts. He was wiring huge sums to associates like Hattab to gamble in casinos from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. At one point a million dollar stake was blown at the tables while investors were told their money was securing international logistics contracts. The "exclusive rights" to revolutionary bottle designs and other ventures were just more smoke and mirrors to keep the cash flowing.
The inevitable collapse left a trail of devastation. Anderson and Curry betrayed the trust of their closest communities. Curry had tapped his church network while Anderson had recruited from his "Mastermind" group of aspiring entrepreneurs. These were not faceless institutional investors. They were friends and neighbors who lost retirement savings and children's college funds. The betrayal was personal and profound.
Weinstein’s ability to manipulate people is legendary in his community. He grew up in Lakewood as a respected figure who donated to charities and solved problems for neighbors. He used this reputation to solicit handshake deals from trusting community members in his earlier scams. His recidivism proves that for some the thrill of the con is an addiction as powerful as any drug. Even a presidential commutation was just another opportunity to find new victims.