The company and its affiliates built over 1,100 rowhouses in Philly and planned major developments on the city’s waterfront, as well as in northern New Jersey, New York City, and Palm Beach, Fla., the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. In a national advertising blitz, it promised investors big-bucks returns of 12% — perhaps better than 20%. But on Tuesday, New Jersey issued a “cease and desist” order against the Secaucus-based National Realty Investment Advisors alleging they “fraudulently” sold $630 million worth of securities in the last four years to “at least” 1,800 investors nationwide. The state Bureau of Securities found that rather than relying on cash-flow proceeds, company officers used investors’ money to pay off other investors and diverted “millions of investor dollars to make lavish payments to family members,” the state Attorney General’s Office said. That included pay for a no-work job for the wife of portfolio manager Thomas N. Salzano, who last year was criminally charged with fraud by federal authorities. Officers hired “family-owned or controlled companies,” New Jersey officials said, among them a construction company in which Salzano’s son was chief financial officer. While NRIA and its entities haven’t been charged criminally, they have been under investigation by federal agencies and officials in three states. The 63-page order itemized what the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office called “unlawful conduct,” mandating that the company “cease and desist” engaging in it. It was unclear whether NRIA, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, plans to appeal the order. The order prohibits NRIA “from engaging in the conduct described in the order itself, or from further securities law violations,” and publicizes the alleged fraud, the state Attorney General’s Office said. It was unclear how the order would be enforced.
