Joe Budden previously expressed his reservations to DJ Envy about getting involved with Cesar Pina and his "Ponzi scheme" real estate business.
Earlier this week, old clips of Budden and Envy surfaced online and showed the two recalling a conversation they had regarding Pina's business plans. In the first clip, which is from a 2021 episode of Maino's Kitchen Talk show, The Breakfast Club co-host spoke about reaching out to three of his friends, Budden, Fabolous, and DJ Clue, about his jump into the real estate industry.
"I said, 'Hey guys. I'm doing real estate. This is something that I think you should invest a little bit of money in, try it out. That way you can do it,'" Envy remembered. "Joe Budden told me it was a Ponzi scheme, and I was going to go to jail."
In the second clip from a June 2023 episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden remembered how that conversation with Envy went down. He said he and Envy weren't speaking to each other so it was weird that he reached out to him out of the blue.
"And he calls me, and starts talking about some real estate shit," Budden said. "For me, that's odd. We don't speak. And now you're calling me, telling me that your man's with the government and he could get the buildings."
He continued, "And there's a list and it'll be me, you, and Queen Latifah — whatever the fuck he was saying, because…I stopped listening at this point. But that just sounded fishy."
DJ Envy's name has been brought up in light of his former business partner Cesar Pina being arrested on charges relating to a wire fraud scheme earlier this week.
Pina is accused of taking advantage of his clients and promising high investment returns while allegedly shorting people out of millions of dollars.
"Pina partnered with a celebrity disc jockey and radio personality to conduct real estate seminars around the country. Through these seminars, self-promotional efforts, and other marketing strategies, Pina developed a significant social media following," the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of New Jersey said in a statement announcing the charges.
It continued, "Starting in 2017, Pina began accepting investments from victim investors for the alleged purchase, remodel, and sale of specific real estate projects in New Jersey and other states. To induce his victims, Pina often promised 20 to 45 percent returns on investment within five months. But instead of using victims’ investments as promised, Pina engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme by commingling victim money, using new victim investments to pay off prior victims, and spending victim funds on personal expenditures. The investigation has revealed that Pina defrauded dozens of investors of millions of dollars."
Envy has said he wasn't aware that Pina was allegedly stealing money from investors.
In other news, TMZ, citing law enforcement sources, refuted reports that iHeartRadio offices were raided by federal officials and that electronic equipment was taken for an investigation related to Pina's case.
It's important to note that Envy has not been charged with any crime. Massimo D'Angelo, who is Envy's attorney, has maintained that his client is a victim in the plot.
“Per my client’s dismissal motions, which are a matter of public record, my client had nothing whatsoever to do with the specific deals concerning Pina’s alleged real estate scheme," D'Angelo said, per NBC New York. "As such, any reference to my client’s involvement in the purported scheme is solely for purposes of sensationalizing the case because of his celebrity status. In fact, my client is a victim, having also invested $500,000 in one of Mr. Pina’s real estate deals, without seeing any returns.”
