A disgraced former Brooklyn Supreme Court justice and a shady real estate developer scammed investors in a $5 million scheme and pocketed nearly all the cash, federal prosecutors claim.<\/p>\n
Ex-Judge Edward Harold King, who was forced to resign earlier this year amid a slew of fraud claims, set up a phony escrow account in cahoots with developer Sam Sprei to bilk two investors\u00a0out of millions\u00a0of dollars tied to bankrupt property in New Jersey,\u00a0federal prosecutors said Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n King and Sprei allegedly reneged on the deal when the investors tried to pull out \u2014 and only got a fraction of the money they had plunked down,\u00a0according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.<\/p>\n Former Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Edward Harold King is facing federal fraud charges. X\/edking4judge<\/p>\n \u201cAs alleged, the defendants stole millions of dollars from investors by cynically leveraging King\u2019s position as a sitting judge to lend false legitimacy to supposed investment opportunities,\u201d Joseph Nocella, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s arrests demonstrate that this Office will hold accountable those who exploit victims for their own financial gain,\u201d Nocella said. \u201cHolding corrupt individuals accountable for the abuse of public trust will always be a priority of our office.\u201d<\/p>\n According to prosecutors, Sprei \u2014 who also goes by \u201cYechiel Sprei,\u201d \u201cShimon Sprei,\u201d and \u201cEli Shapiro\u201d \u2014 allegedly set up the scam in November 2024 by offering the investors a shot at property in Freehold, New Jersey, that was mired in bankruptcy and up for auction.<\/p>\n However, Sprei allegedly said the pair had to plunk down $6.5 million to get a shot at the deal, and promised they would get the money back if they decided to pull out \u2014 with the money to be held in an escrow account in King\u2019s name until then, the feds said.<\/p>\n Former Judge Edward Harold King and developer Sam Sprei were arraigned in Brooklyn federal court. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Joseph Nocella, US attorney for the Eastern District of NY, said ex-Judge Edward Harold King abused his post. LP Media<\/p>\n When the investors asked for their money back last year, King and Sprei came up with phony excuses and only returned about $1.5 million \u2014 pocketing the rest, according to a federal complaint.<\/p>\n