An alleged con artist from Maine who was indicted last summer on charges of bilking investors out of about $200,000 has been returned to the state after being arrested in New Jersey.
Jonathan Rosenbloom, 49, was arrested on Jan. 6 in Lebanon Township, N.J., where he was attending his son's high school play, his lawyer said. Rosenbloom was wanted in New Jersey for failure to pay nearly $100,000 in child support.
Rosenbloom was free on bail on the theft charges in Maine, and wasn't supposed to leave the state without permission. Maine officials picked up Rosenbloom on Thursday and brought him to the Cumberland County Jail, where he remains.
His trial had been scheduled to begin as early as next week, but both parties agreed to extend the time period for preparation. Prosecutors have asked the court to keep Rosenbloom in jail, without bail, until the trial. A judge is expected to rule on that request in the next few weeks.
Rosenbloom is a chef, consultant and writer who moved to Maine in 2004 and has lived in South Portland, Falmouth and the Augusta area. In the 1990s, Rosenbloom spent several years living and working in Italy.
He is a food and wine expert, and in late 2005 and early 2006 he wrote an online column about wine for Mainetoday.com, called Cellar Dweller.
Rosenbloom was indicted by a Cumberland County grand jury in August on four counts of felony theft by deception, two counts of securities fraud and three counts of misuse of identification.
Prosecutors claim that Rosenbloom enticed two business partners to invest in phony Italian real estate deals, then kept the money.
The indictment also alleges that Rosenbloom persuaded two Maine women to contribute to a phony investment club account with E-Trade Financial. An investment club account allows a group of people to pool assets and make joint decisions.
Rosenbloom also allegedly used the names of the investors to obtain credit cards.
Michael Colleran, an assistant attorney general who is the lead prosecutor in the case, said Rosenbloom violated his bail conditions when he drove to New Jersey on Jan. 6.
"We're glad to have him back in Maine to face the charges against him," he said.
Neil Weinstein, a Saco attorney who is representing Rosenbloom, said his client concedes that he did not clear the trip with authorities, but he wanted to watch his son perform in a high school play, which he learned about on short notice.
Rosenbloom's ex-wife called police, who arrested him on the warrant for unpaid child support.
Weinstein said Rosenbloom did not do anything illegal in Maine, and instead was engaged in a legitimate real estate investment business that failed for a number of reasons.
Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:
tmaxwell@pressherald.com
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