Calabasas Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud
A Calabasas man pleaded guilty Monday to charges he defrauded two real estate clients out of more than $500,000, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Jay Sydney Hoffman, 48, former president of a Calabasas consulting firm, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud he committed in 1994, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
According to FBI investigators, Hoffman lied to one client, saying he could secure a lower house mortgage payment through his “high level” status at the Resolution Trust Corp., a government agency created to take over failed savings and loan associations.
When the two clients gave Hoffman checks and cash meant for buying a home mortgage and an office building, Hoffman instead deposited the funds into his bank account for his own use, Mrozek said.
Hoffman, who faces up to 10 years in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.
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