SEC Charges Toms River Trio in $47M Orthodox Jewish Community Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three residents of Toms River, New Jersey, with orchestrating an affinity fraud scheme that raised approximately $47 million. The defendants targeted members of Orthodox Jewish communities in New Jersey and New York, exploiting shared religious and social ties to secure investments.

Leor Moshe, identified as the scheme’s orchestrator, convinced more than 87 investors between November 2019 and June 2023 to fund his company, Capital Funding ASAP LLC. Moshe promised significant fixed returns on short-term loans for small businesses. Instead of funding these loans, he misappropriated more than $11 million for personal use and used over $850,000 to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors.

Jacob Goldman and Isaac Odes, who were not registered as broker-dealers, recruited investors on Moshe’s behalf. The pair solicited more than $23 million from at least 25 people, negotiated terms, and facilitated fund collection. Their unregistered status violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Investors across seven states—including Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio—lost more than $25 million. The SEC complaint highlights that defendants promised returns exceeding thirty percent, a figure Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office, noted as a clear indicator of fraud.

“The Jersey Shore triumvirate took advantage of their relationships within Orthodox Jewish communities to raise money for Moshe’s scheme and enrich themselves,” Smith said.

The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and a conduct-based injunction against Moshe. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against Moshe for similar conduct.

This case mirrors previous affinity frauds where perpetrators leveraged community trust to bypass standard due diligence. The SEC encourages investors to verify backgrounds via Investor.gov and warns that offers promising guaranteed high returns often signal scams.