Prosecutor: Area Man Charged with Stealing $175K from 10 in Alleged Investment Scam

A Monmouth County man has been arrested and charged with stealing more than $175,000 from 10 people who had entrusted him to invest large sums of money on their behalf, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Tuesday.

Jeffrey Loretta, 60, of Manalapan, has been charged with: one count of second-degree theft, three counts of second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, and seven counts of third-degree misapplication of entrusted property.

An investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit revealed that the 10 alleged victims gave Loretta a combined total of slightly more than half a million dollars at various times between January of 2020 and February of 2021 on the premise that he would responsibly invest the money. On several occasions, the investigation revealed, Loretta provided multiple victims with inaccurate and false gains figures, incentivizing them to reinvest additional money.

Instead of coming through on the promises of gain, Loretta lost nearly $200,000 of the funds via bad investments and spent more than $175,000 of the funds on himself, taking out thousands of dollars at a time in ATM withdraws and making checks out to himself, payable in cash.

Loretta turned himself in to authorities on Friday and was released pending a first appearance to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.

If convicted of the second-degree crime, Loretta will face up to 10 years in state prison.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office