Three New Jersey men, who defrauded an investor of millions of dollars by claiming that they had access to Facebook stock before the company's initial public offering last year, now face charges.

Prosecutors have charged the men in a federal court in New Jersey. The complaint against the men is that they offered millions of dollars worth of Facebook shares, much before the company's IPO offering last May. In reality, the men had no access to any Facebook shares.

In fact one of the men, Eliyahu Weinstein was actually under an indictment on charges of running a $200 million investment scam at the time that he allegedly scammed the New Zealand investor.

According to the complaint against the defendants, all of the defendants took advantage of the massive hype that was being created around the Facebook IPO just before the IPO was launched last May. The men also defrauded the investor of millions of dollars in a real estate scam in Miami, as well as more than $675,000 in another fraud scheme.

The men have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy. If convicted, they face a maximum of 20 years in prison. Weinstein was already under another indictment at the time he allegedly committed these crimes, so he has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy while on pretrial release. If he's convicted, he could be sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Wire fraud is said to have occurred when a person uses electronic communication methods and deception in order to deceive and cheat another person out of money. Common examples include pyramid schemes, fraudulent investment schemes, and chain letters. These are serious federal crimes, and a conviction can result in a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced the arrest of the owner of a North Carolina investment firm on charges of securities fraud and Ponzi scheme operation.

According to the US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, the investment firm owner has been charged with operating a scheme that defrauded investors of millions of dollars, by coaxing them to invest in the foreign currency market. The charges have been filed against the man who now faces one count of securities fraud in connection with the Ponzi scheme.

Ponzi schemes can be of various types, and in this one, the defendant is believed to have lured investors by inducing them to invest in his companies. The investors were told that they would be investing in over-the-counter foreign currency exchange.

Instead, according to the FBI indictment, the man operated a scheme in which he attracted investors through a series of false representations, omissions of important facts and lies. He claimed to investors that he had several decades of experience in investments, including options trading and commodities trading. In actual fact, according to the FBI, the man had no such experience in the investment field at all.

He's also believed to have coaxed his victims into a false sense of security, by projecting millions of dollars in hefty annual returns on their investment. At least 500 victims in all invested about $4.7 million in the Ponzi scheme.

As it happens in almost every Ponzi scheme, the money that was obtained from investors, was not invested in anything, but was used to pay off the man's personal expenses. He paid off older investors with the money that was gained from new investors.

As part of the government’s intensifying probe into SAC Capital Advisors, a senior portfolio manager at the firm was recently arrested for his role in what the government believes is an insider trading ring.

Michael Steinberg is a senior portfolio manager for SAC Capital Advisors, which manages close to $15 billion. This is one of the country’s most influential investment companies, and was founded by billionaire businessman Steven Cohen.

Arizona criminal defense attorneys have found that the federal administration has been intensifying its investigations into illegal activity on Wall Street, and this latest arrest is part of a series of actions that the feds have been taking against such activity. Two weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that 2 affiliates of the company would pay more than $614 million to settle charges of insider trading. That settlement has not yet been approved.

Michael Steinberg was arrested at his Manhattan apartment, and has now pleaded not guilty to charges of insider trading. He has been released on bail of $3 million.

According to the US Attorney, Steinberg was a Wall Street insider who used proprietary and confidential information that was cultivated by professionals who manipulated the rules for gain. The FBI says that it is currently conducting an investigation into these insider trading allegations, and the investigation has resulted in more than 70 arrests. Steinberg's arrest is not the first at SAC Capital Advisors. Over the past 4 years, 4 other persons who were associated with the company have also been arrested. The feds believe that Steinberg is the center of an elite club that rewarded cheating and corruption.

Steinberg's arrest means more bad news for Steven Cohen because it indicates that the administration is taking a much stronger look at the practices used by the billionaire businessman in his hedge fund operation. He has not yet been charged, and according to authorities, he is cooperating fully with the inquiry.