Local News in Brief : Swindler, 65, Sentenced
A 65-year-old woman, convicted of bilking investors out of more than $1 million in a real estate investment scheme, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in state prison.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Hiroshige imposed the maximum sentence on Joan Betts Diplarakos of Twin Peaks, near Lake Arrowhead.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Brent Collier said Diplarakos persuaded homeowners, most of them from the San Gabriel Valley, to take second mortgages on their homes and put the money into investment partnerships she organized. Diplarakos then used the money for other investments and expenses.
The charges involved 18 counts of theft, but sheriff’s investigators alleged that hundreds of investors lost a total of $8.5 million.
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