Restitution payment prompts dismissal of elderly scam case

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | 9:40 a.m.

The case against a man who prosecutors accused of exploiting an elderly man and spending the money on himself was dismissed this morning after he paid more than $300,000 in restitution.

Jamal Eljwaidi, also known as Jean Marc Eljwaidi, was charged with six counts of elder exploitation, a felony, for allegedly taking investors’ money for a real estate development and spending it on himself.

Eljwaidi paid $338,306.59 this morning in district court and the case was subsequently dismissed. The trial was slated to begin Monday.

The case moved to district court in January after Eljwaidi missed a restitution payment. The case previously had been negotiated so that if the victim named in the complaint was repaid, the case would have been dismissed. No other alleged victims were named in the complaint.

The case was bound over to district court Jan. 8 after Eljwaidi missed a payment.

His attorney, Steve Wolfson, said he was pleased the case was resolved.

“I think that the most important thing right now is that Jean Marc has been exonerated,” Wolfson said after the hearing. “He never committed a crime -- we always said he didn’t commit a crime. We acknowledged he owed some money, but he’s paid that money and all the charges were dismissed today.”

The alleged scam involved short-term loans for a shopping center project on 9.23 acres near Russell Road and the 215 Beltway in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, which were made in exchange for high-interest payments.

According to the criminal complaint, Eljwaidi was alleged to have scammed an elderly Las Vegas man who suffers from a diminished mental capacity out of $400,000 by promising to make the man an equal business partner.

Eljwaidi was accused of using up to $600,000, including the man's money, to live a lavish lifestyle while leaving the elderly man destitute.