Woodbridge, Old Bridge Men Indicted in $6.7 Million Fraud Scheme

TRENTON, NJ — A state grand jury has indicted two Middlesex County men for allegedly swindling investors out of roughly $6.7 million, and using that money for their own benefit.

The grand jury indicted Wilfredo Topacio, 64, of Woodbridge, and Shahid Javed, 39, of Old Bridge, on criminal charges for an alleged scheme that used fake companies and false identities to deceive investors into believing they would get large guaranteed returns from investments in fuel products, NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a prepared statement.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

Authorities allege the pair ran the scheme from March 2018 through April 2023.

Topacio and Javed were both charged with first-degree conspiracy, second-degree theft by deception; two counts of second-degree securities fraud; three counts of misconduct by a corporate official; three counts of second-degree impersonation, and two counts of first-degree money laundering in connection with the alleged scheme.

Javed is also charged with a separate count of passing a bad check to an investor.

Deputy Attorney General Conner Ouellette, who is prosecuting this case, alleges the pair fraudulently obtained over $6.7 million from investors by creating the false impression that investors' money was going into legitimate businesses that bought and sold fuel products for large profits with guaranteed returns.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

The alleged scheme included getting investors to buy $1.1 million worth of investment contracts with Prime Petroleum, LLC, and $5.6 million worth of investment contracts in Petro Traders Group, LLC, purportedly legitimate businesses.

Authorities say the defendants allegedly operated these sham companies and diverted investors’ money to buy, among other things, expensive vehicles, pay friends and family, pay off prior business debts, and buy other personal items.

Topacio and Javed also allegedly laundered money through bank accounts and corporate entities they controlled to pay some investors roughly $500,000 in purported investment returns to promote the alleged deception that their investments actually yielded returns, the Attorney General’s statement said.

“Investment-fraud schemes prey on vulnerable victims with empty promises of huge profits and guaranteed returns,” Platkin said. “These defendants allegedly worked together to orchestrate a multi-faceted investment-fraud scheme that took advantage of New Jersey investors for several years. The time has come for them to be held accountable.”

“These defendants allegedly took advantage of investors by duping them into investing millions of dollars into sham companies, then diverted money to line their own pockets and to pay other personal expenses,” said Pablo Quiñones, chief of the state Office of Securities Fraud & Financial Crimes Prosecutions. “Cases like this are a top priority for the Division of Criminal Justice.”

The Woodbridge Police Department was credited for assisting state Department of Criminal Justice investigators and analysts who unraveled the complex financial workings of the alleged scheme.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net