- Claim:
- That money placed with Capital Funding ASAP LLC would fund short-term loans to small businesses and pay a fixed return of 22% to 53% on a one-year investment, or 9% to 10% over two to three months, with the principal guaranteed and, for some investors, secured by collateral.
- Population:
- At least 87 Capital Funding ASAP investors, as alleged by the SEC
- Raised, at least, as alleged by the SEC
- $47 million
- Fixed one-year returns promised, as alleged
- 22% to 53%
- Misappropriated for personal use, as alleged
- $11 million
- Investor losses, more than, as alleged by the SEC
- $25 million
- Finding:
- On 13 August 2026 the SEC filed a civil fraud complaint in the District of New Jersey against Leor Moshe, Jacob Goldman and Isaac Odes. The complaint alleges the loans were largely not made, that Moshe misappropriated more than $11 million, and that "the guarantees were worthless and, for most investors, the purported collateral was either non-existent or was disposed of." The same day, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced that Moshe pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
- Confidence:
- High on what has been alleged and admitted, because we downloaded and read the 42-page complaint and the U.S. Attorney's announcement. The criminal admission is Moshe's own, in open court. The civil case is untried and no court has ruled on it. Goldman and Odes are not charged with fraud by anyone, and nothing here has been proven against them.
- Docket:
- 3:26-cv-10253
- Source:
- complaint
Open: nothing here has been proven or decided. What would change this verdict
Verdict: Open
The claim
The pitch had two moving parts, and only one of them was the return.
The return is what gets attention. From the complaint, paragraph 2:
“Between approximately November 2019 and June 2023 (the ‘Relevant Period’), Moshe solicited at least 87 investors, raising at least $47 million. He promised investors fixed returns of between 22% and 53% on one-year investments, and between 9% and 10% on shorter, two- to three-month investments.”
Twenty-two to fifty-three per cent, fixed, for lending money to small businesses. That number alone should have ended most conversations. Short-term business lending is a real industry with real yields, and it does not clear 53% net to a passive investor while the operator also takes a margin.
But the return is not what made this work. This is what made it work, from paragraph 33 and paragraph 45:
“Each Defendant promised investors a fixed rate of return plus return of their principal.”
“Each of the Defendants also told numerous investors that their investment principal was guaranteed — by Capital Funding, Moshe, and/or Goldman.”
And for some investors, the guarantee came with something you could picture. Paragraph 44 alleges each defendant told at least certain investors their investments were “secured by collateral — either valuable sports cards, liens on real estate owned by Moshe, or Moshe’s ownership stake in 120 Whitesville.”
That is the structure worth studying. A high return raises your suspicion. A guarantee lowers it. Put them together and the guarantee does the work of neutralising the number, because the investor stops asking whether 53% is plausible and starts asking whether the guarantee is good.
The evidence
Everything below is from the SEC’s complaint, filed 13 August 2026 as case 3:26-cv-10253 in the District of New Jersey, or from the U.S. Attorney’s announcement the same day. Nothing is our characterisation.
Where the money went. The SEC’s litigation release states the allegation directly: “rather than funding business loans, Moshe allegedly misappropriated more than $11 million from investors for his personal use and used more than $850,000 for Ponzi-like payments to earlier-in-time investors.”
What the guarantees were worth. Complaint, paragraph 46: “the guarantees were worthless and, for most investors, the purported collateral was either non-existent or was disposed of.”
Who sold it. Goldman and Odes were paid to bring investors in. The litigation release says they “were not registered as broker-dealers or associated with any registered broker-dealer” and that they “solicited more than $23 million from at least 25 investors, negotiated investment terms, and facilitated the collection of funds.”
Who was targeted. The SEC describes an affinity fraud: investors were “primarily members of Orthodox Jewish communities in New Jersey and New York,” and Moshe was, like them, an active member of that community. Investors came from Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.
The loss figure. The litigation release: “investors from Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Ohio lost more than $25 million.”
Where the money went, as alleged
What was admitted, and by whom. Moshe, 43, of Toms River, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to an Information charging him with wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s announcement states that, according to court documents and statements made in court, he “used the money to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors and for personal expenses such as gambling debts, home renovations, mortgage loans, and car loans,” and obtained approximately $47 million, of which approximately $11 million went to personal expenses. Sentencing is set for 16 December 2026. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greatest — a maximum, not a sentence.
What the evidence supports and does not
Supported: that these allegations were made, in a federal complaint, by the SEC, with a docket number and a date. That Moshe admitted wire fraud in open court. That the marketing promised fixed returns and guaranteed principal, because the complaint quotes and characterises those representations at length.
Not supported: anything about Goldman or Odes beyond the SEC’s civil claim that they acted as unregistered brokers. They are not charged with fraud by the SEC. We found no primary source charging either of them criminally. An unregistered-broker claim is a registration violation; it is not a finding that someone knew a scheme was fraudulent, and we are not going to let the two blur together because they appear in the same caption.
Not yet existing: any penalty, disgorgement or restitution figure. The SEC’s complaint “seeks” those things. Seeking is not obtaining. Moshe has not been sentenced.
One discrepancy, noted and not resolved. The SEC says at least 87 investors. The U.S. Attorney’s announcement says more than 97 victims. Both documents were filed the same day about the same conduct. Different agencies count different populations under different statutes and the numbers need not match, so we are recording the difference rather than treating it as a finding, and we are using each figure only with its own source attached.
Cause of death
The return was the advertisement. The guarantee was the anaesthetic.
An investor looking at a fixed 22% to 53% has one obvious question, and it is a good one: where does that come from? A guarantee answers a different question — what happens if it does not come? — and once someone has an answer to the second, they frequently stop asking the first. The complaint alleges the guarantee was backed by nothing, which means the reassurance was the product.
The collateral detail is the same mechanism made physical. Sports cards and a lien on a property are things you can imagine seizing. They convert an abstract promise into an object. Paragraph 46 alleges the objects were largely not there.
Then affinity closes the loop. When the person selling you the investment prays where you pray, the diligence you would normally do on a stranger feels like an accusation against a neighbour. That is not a failure of intelligence. It is the specific reason affinity fraud is a named category the SEC maintains its own guidance on, describing scams “that prey upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities” and noting that the fraudsters “frequently are — or pretend to be — members of the group.” The SEC’s release in this case directs readers to its guidance on investment scams targeting groups.
Note what is absent from this structure: any mechanism by which the money was supposed to become passive. The pitch never had to explain the yield, because the guarantee stood in for the explanation.
What would change this verdict
A trial or a judgment on the civil claims. Right now the SEC’s allegations are allegations. If the case is tried, settled or dismissed, that is the fact that matters and we will update accordingly.
A sentence. On 16 December 2026 there will be a real number attached to Moshe’s admission. Until then there is a statutory maximum and nothing else, and anyone quoting the maximum as though it were the outcome is telling you something false.
Any resolution for Goldman and Odes. If they answer, settle or defeat the unregistered-broker claims, that changes what can fairly be said about them. As of today, the fair statement is that they are alleged to have sold securities without being registered to do so, and nothing more.
Evidence that any of the loans were real. The complaint alleges the lending business did not do what investors were told. If the record later shows a genuine lending operation underneath, the shape of this autopsy changes.
If you are being offered a fixed double-digit return today, the question that would have worked here is not “is the return realistic”. It is: who is standing behind the guarantee, what do they own, and what happens to that guarantee if the person offering it runs out of money? On the allegations in this complaint, the answer was nobody, nothing, and it evaporates.
Frequently asked questions
What does the SEC allege in the Capital Funding ASAP case?
On 13 August 2026 the SEC filed a civil fraud complaint in the District of New Jersey against Leor Moshe, Jacob Goldman and Isaac Odes. It alleges the loans were largely not made and that Moshe misappropriated more than $11 million. The civil claims are untried.
What was promised to investors?
A fixed return of 22% to 53% on a one-year investment, or 9% to 10% over two to three months, with the principal guaranteed. The complaint alleges some investors were told their money was secured by collateral such as sports cards or liens on real estate.
Has anyone been convicted?
Moshe pleaded guilty to wire fraud in open court, and sentencing is scheduled for 16 December 2026. Goldman and Odes are not charged with fraud by the SEC, which alleges only that they acted as unregistered brokers.
Is there a penalty or restitution figure?
No. The complaint seeks penalties and similar relief, but seeking is not obtaining, and Moshe has not been sentenced.
Why do the SEC and the U.S. Attorney give different victim counts?
The SEC says at least 87 investors and the U.S. Attorney's announcement says more than 97 victims. The post records the difference without resolving it, because different agencies count different populations under different statutes.