Securities and Exchange Commission v. Thomas Nicholas Salzano, 2:21-cv-12189 (D.N.J. filed June 7, 2021)
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Thomas Nicholas Salzano, of Secaucus, New Jersey, with using a sham loan document containing a forged signature in a fraudulent attempt to entice a $150,000 investment in a real estate joint venture located in New Jersey.
According to the SEC’s complaint, in January 2019, Salzano, an executive advisor and portfolio manager at National Realty Investment Advisors, LLC, a New Jersey-based private real estate management firm, sent the loan document to an investor to obtain an investment in a joint venture opportunity offered by the firm. The complaint alleges that Salzano provided the investor a term sheet for a loan that purportedly was being used to finance the real estate project in which the investor would invest. As alleged, the term sheet falsely stated that a third-party lender had committed to provide a $25 million loan for the project, and that the term sheet contained the forged signature of the lender’s chief executive officer. Further, the complaint alleges that Salzano knowingly provided the false term sheet to the investor in an attempt to secure the investment.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court for the District of New Jersey, charges Salzano with violations of the antifraud provisions of Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933, and seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties, and an officer and director bar.
Salzano was arrested on March 4, 2021, and charged with wire fraud and identity theft related to the same facts by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. The criminal complaint is available at justice.gov
Mark J. Astarita is a veteran securities attorney representing investors and financial professionals nationwide in securities investigations and arbitrations. Have a question? Email him at mja@sallahlaw.com, call his office at 212-509-6544, or visit The Securities Lawyer.
Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.
