Feds accuse New Jersey woman of real estate Ponzi scheme

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan today accused a New Jersey woman of running a real estate Ponzi scam that took in more than $45 million from more than 20 investors in New York and New Jersey. Prosecutors claim that between 2006 and late 2009, Antoinette Hodgson convinced investors to give her tens of millions of dollars to invest in a mostly bogus plan to buy and renovate residential properties that would later be sold or rented, the office of the United States Attorney in Manhattan said in a statement. Instead, the complaint claims, she used that money for her own use or to repay earlier investors in the classic Ponzi pattern. In fact she spent just $6 million on residential real estate, prosecutors said. Hodgson turned herself in this morning and was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of wire fraud conspiracy. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, authorities said. TRD