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Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Plot With Ex-Tustin Banker

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From Times Staff Reports

A man with alleged ties to organized crime pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court here Monday to one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme with a former Tustin banker and another man to fraudulently obtain credit lines at five Las Vegas casinos.

Morton Goodman, 53, faces five years in prison and a $1-million fine after negotiating a plea agreement in which two other wire-fraud charges and a conspiracy charge will be dropped. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13.

The former president of Far Western Bank in Tustin, Roger McGinnis, pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy in connection with the case, and will be sentenced Jan. 18. A third man, John DeMattia, has also pleaded guilty.

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Prosecutors said that in 1984 McGinnis provided casinos with false financial information indicating that Goodman and DeMattia had large bank balances, thus enabling the two men to obtain substantial credit lines.

The casinos allegedly defrauded in the scheme were Binion’s Horseshoe, the Las Vegas Hilton, the MGM Grand and the Desert Inn and Country Club.

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