Man Sentenced to 5 Years for Bilking Investors: Used Funds to Pay Gambling Debts

A San Jose, California man has been sentenced to five years prison time and five years probation for defrauding investors in order to pay off his gambling debts.

Thomas R. Papa, 56, represented himself as a money manager for a company called MTJJ via Craigslist.  He would tell potential clients that he could broker deals for property and business loans through private investors.

"Private loans are a common vehicle for con artists to scam people out of large amounts of money," said prosecutor Katharina Wells. "If the loan terms sound too good to be true, it is likely a scam."

Papa had collected over a half million dollars to pay off his gambling debts.  He did manage to pay back approximately $197,500 to some of the victims before charges were filed in June 2012, Wells said.

Papa pleaded no contest to nine counts of felony fraud last February.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com