The Securities and Exchange Commission today 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 SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Doreen Rodriguez and Thomas P. Smith, Jr., and the litigation will be handled by Paul Gizzi of the New York Regional Office.  The case is being supervised by Sanjay Wadhwa. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.