12 Years In Prison For Secaucus Man Who Ran $658M Ponzi Scheme

SECAUCUS, NJ — Former Secaucus resident Thomas "Nick" Salzano, 66, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison for running a $658-million Ponzi scheme through National Realty Investment Advisors (NRIA), the scam real estate investing company he owned that defrauded more than 2,000 people.

This week's sentencing was announced here by U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.

On Feb. 27, Salzano pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to serve 8-12 years in prison; federal Judge Evelyn Padin handed down the maximum prison time at his sentencing this week.

"Today’s sentencing of Salzano should send a message to others who choose to prey on innocent victims through similar investment fraud schemes," said IRS special agent in charge Harry Chavis, Jr.

The amount of money Salzano made through NRIA is staggering: He agreed to pay $507 million in restitution to his victims, and $6.46 million to the IRS. Separately, Salzano also agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $8.52 million.

Salzano and his wife used to live in Riverside Court, the luxury town home complex at the end of Meadowlands Parkway. When Salzano was first arrested on March 4, 2021, he refused for hours to come out of his home, prompting a large FBI stand-off. FBI agents and Secaucus Police, with guns drawn, ordered Salzano to come out. He finally did emerge and was placed in handcuffs.

After his arrest, Salzano was let out of jail on a $1-million bail bond, and was ordered to home confinement until his sentencing. But he has not lived in Secaucus for several years. According to an order from the U.S. Marshal's, a family member in Toms River posted his home as collateral should Salzano leave the country.

Patch has been covering the criminal activities of Nick Salzano for several years now:

NRIA claimed it owned $1.25 billion in real estate assets, from luxury homes in Saddle River to beachfront condos in Florida. However, federal prosecutors discovered NRIA was a massive Ponzi scheme, only kept afloat by money from new investors.

Federal agents started investigating NRIA after people began reporting the company to the New Jersey Bureau of Securities, saying they had lost significant amounts of money. NRIA used to advertise aggressively on the radio/TV, and had billboards outside the Holland and Lincoln tunnels.

Salzano and another man, Rey Grabato, 43, of Hoboken, ran NRIA, with Grabato as president and Salzano as shadow CEO. Federal prosecutors say Salzano made Grabato the public face of the company to hide the fact that Salzano previously pleaded guilty to fraud in Louisiana, through a now-shuttered telecommunications company he owned called NorVergence.

From 2018 through 2022, NRIA sold memberships in their real estate investment fund to investors across the country. They said they used investor money to purchase land or property at below-market value prices, which would then be developed for sale at a large profit. NRIA guaranteed returns of 12 percent, with the added possibility of returns as high as 21 percent.

In reality, NRIA generated little to no profits and was only kept afloat by money coming in from new investors, said U.S. Attorney Sellinger.

The FBI said Salzano used the hundreds of millions he and Grabato made to support a lavish lifestyle, including expensive dinners, extravagant birthday parties, and payments to family and friends, including a salary paid to Salzano's wife for a no-show job. He also failed to pay $26 million in taxes.

NRIA listed its place of business as 1325 Paterson Plank Road in Secaucus.

While Salzano was taken into FBI custody in 2021, Grabato fled to the Philippines, where he has citizenship. To this day, he has still not been apprehended by U.S. law enforcement, and is considered among the FBI's most wanted.

A third man, Arthur Scuttaro, 62, of Nutley, worked as the head of sales at NRIA. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to one count of securities fraud conspiracy.

Hudson County View has a photo of both Salzano and Grabato.

Prior: Nick Salzano Of Secaucus Pleads Guilty In $658 Million Ponzi Scheme (Feb. 28, 2024)