NRIA Executive Sentenced to 12 Years for $658M Ponzi Scheme and Tax Evasion

Thomas Nicholas Salzano, who led a fraudulent real estate investment firm, has been sentenced for defrauding investors and evading millions in taxes.

Thomas Nicholas Salzano, 66, from Secaucus, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for orchestrating a $658 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 2,000 investors and for conspiring to evade taxes, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger. 

Salzano, the shadow CEO of National Realty Investment Advisors LLC (NRIA), led a multiyear scheme that misled investors about the financial state of NRIA, which falsely promoted itself as a successful real estate fund generating substantial returns.

“For years, Salzano, operating from the shadows to conceal his prior history of fraud, told lie after lie to investors, continuously deceived them, and operated his business as a Ponzi scheme, through which he stole money from thousands of investors in order to support his lavish lifestyle. His greed and flagrant disregard for the law caused staggering losses in excess of $650 million. This office will continue to prioritize prosecuting individuals, like Salzano, who engage in rampant fraud to ensure they are held accountable with long jail sentences and are ordered to make their victims whole,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

From February 2018 to January 2022, Salzano and his associates directed an aggressive national marketing campaign using emails, billboards, TV and radio ads, and in-person presentations. These efforts misrepresented NRIA’s financial stability and profitability to attract new investors, despite the company generating little actual profit and relying on new investments to stay afloat. 

Salzano admitted to misusing investor funds for personal luxuries, including extravagant parties and payments to family and friends, while concealing his history of fraud from investors.

Alongside his investment scheme, Salzano also conspired to evade taxes on the misappropriated funds, leading to millions in unpaid liabilities. 

“Salzano trampled on the trust that his clients placed in him to invest their money prudently but instead he stole their investments for his own self-enrichment through his atrocious scheme which resulted in the theft of over $650 million,” said Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office. “Salzano’s clients were not the only victim of this scheme, every American taxpayer was also victimized by Salzano when he failed to pay tens of millions of dollars in taxes which would have funded local schools, infrastructure projects, and social programs for those in need.”

As part of his sentence, U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin ordered Salzano to pay $507.4 million in restitution to victims, an $8.52 million forfeiture, and $6.46 million to the IRS. Following his prison term, he will also serve three years of supervised release.