TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that an Ocean County woman pleaded
guilty today to defrauding investors of
more than $600,000 through a false investment
scheme.
According to Director Paw,
Zina A. Martin, 43, of Jackson, pleaded
guilty today to second-degree securities
fraud before Superior Court Judge James
Den Uyl in Ocean County. Under the plea
agreement, Martin faces a sentence of three
to five years in state prison. In addition,
Martin must pay restitution to her victims
of $641,000.
During the plea hearing,
Martin admitted that she represented to
investors that their money would be placed
within certain investment vehicles but,
in fact, she used the funds for other purposes.
An investigation by the New Jersey Bureau
of Securities determined that Martin used
the funds to pay business expenses, make
payments to other investors, and pay personal
expenses, including mortgage payments, monthly
living expenses and the purchase of a Cadillac
Escalade.
Martin solicited $641,000
from about 25 investors as sole owner and
president of Kairos Financial Corporation,
which had offices at 331 Newman Springs
Road in Red Bank. The Bureau of Securities
investigation determined that Martin distributed
a brochure to investors describing six different
investment funds called the “Kairos
Funds,” including average yearly returns
for some of the funds. She also issued monthly
statements informing investors of the amounts
they purportedly held in each of the funds.
In reality, the Kairos Funds were fictitious
and investor monies were commingled in a
brokerage account of Kairos Financial.
The case was investigated
for the Bureau of Securities by Supervising
Investigator Michael McElgunn, Investigator
Richard Smullen and Chief of Enforcement
Richard Barry. Deputy Attorney General Patrick
Flor is prosecuting the case for the Division
of Criminal Justice - Major Crimes Bureau
and handled today’s plea hearing.
In October 2007, the Bureau
of Securities revoked the investment adviser
registrations of both Martin and Kairos
Financial.
Judge
Den Uyl scheduled Martin’s sentencing
for June 27.
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