A Brooklyn real estate investor and a former New York State judge were indicted on charges of wire fraud conspiracy for running schemes that defrauded millions of dollars from investors.
Sam Sprei – who is also known as “Yechiel Sprei,” “Shimon Sprei,” and “Eli Shapiro” – and Edward Harold King, a former Kings County Supreme Court Justice, including multiple schemes that solicited funds for fictitious investment opportunities, with claims that invested funds would be returnable on demand if the victims decided to end their involvement in the investments. However, they refused to return the money based on false excuses and converted a significant portion of the victims’ funds for their own use.
The indictment cited a November 2024 case where Sprei presented two investors with an opportunity to purchase commercial real estate located in Freehold, New Jersey. Sprei demanded “proof of liquidity” from investors, claiming he would deposit their funds in escrow. In addition, Sprei told the investors that King was an independent escrow agent. Sprei falsely claimed the investors could advise King if they changed their minds about pursuing the investment and would receive the full amount deposited within two business days.
Based on these representations from Sprei, the investors wired a total of $6.5 million to a bank account in King’s name pursuant to written escrow agreements signed by the investors and King. In the days immediately following the wire transfers from the investors to the bank account in King’s name, millions of dollars of the investors’ funds were withdrawn or transferred to a bank account in Sprei’s name.
When the investors subsequently wrote to King to request the return of their deposited funds, King provided false excuses as to why he could not return the $6.5 million. Months later, King and Sprei returned to the investors $1.5 million, representing only a portion of the Investors’ investment. To date, Sprei and King have not returned any additional funds.
If convicted of wire fraud conspiracy, the defendants face up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
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