Brooklyn man's Seinfeld joke turns out to be multi-million dollar scam

Yahoo

15-03-2025

A Brooklyn crypto influencer who convinced friends to invest in a bogus company referencing the show Seinfeld was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for the multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, Department of Justice officials announced Friday.
Thomas John Sfraga, a one-time popular podcaster who used the alias "TJ Stone," defrauded at least 17 people of over $2 million that he convinced them to invest in his business ventures, including the Vandelay Contracting Corporation, a reference to a running gag on the hit show.
Investments in Sfraga's Vandelay company proved just as phony as Vandelay Industries — a supposed latex manufacturing company — on Seinfeld. On the TV show, George Costanza concocts the company to convince state bureaucrats he's looking for work so that he can receive unemployment checks.
But Sfraga, 56, wasn't looking to fool government workers; he robbed friends, neighbors, old classmates and even his child's baseball coach, according to federal court papers.
'Sfraga callously stole from friends, next-door neighbors, and the parents of children who played on teams with his own children, as well as from individual cryptocurrency investors,' said John J. Durham, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. 'There was nothing funny about his use of a Seinfeldian company, Vandelay Industries, to carry out this fraud, which caused severe financial and emotional harm to the hard-working men and women who trusted him.'
Sfraga ran his scams from 2016 to 2022. He told victims — most from Brooklyn, Long Island and Staten Island — they were investing in real estate and cryptocurrency ventures. He used the money instead for personal expenses and to pay back victims to lull them into trusting him, court filings say.
The spurious operation unraveled in a more ignominious way than Costanza's. Investors eventually caught on and Sfraga fled to Arizona under a false identity, federal prosecutors said. He then fled again to Nevada where he was finally arrested for not paying his tab at a casino in Las Vegas, court records said.
U.S. District Judge Frederic Block sentenced the 56-year-old in Brooklyn on Thursday to 45 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in May 2024. The judge also ordered Sfraga to forfeit $1.3 million. The amount Sfraga will have to pay back to his victims will be determined at a later date, federal authorities said.
An attorney for Sfraga did not respond to requests for comment.
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Among the victims, federal prosecutors said, were people Sfraga had known since grade school and parents of children that played on the same team as his child. He found victims at cryptocurrency networking events and stole money gifted to a young couple for their wedding, prosecutors said.
The ventures they paid into included a company called Build Strong Homes and a 'virtual wallet' cryptocurrency venture, according to court filings.
'During a challenging time in my life, as I faced a difficult and costly divorce, [Sfraga] and I met socially,' one victim told prosecutors. 'He acknowledged my financial struggles and offered a way to help . . . . He assured me, as a friend.'
One person from Brooklyn thought they were joining Sfraga in a clever business scheme, according to an arrest affidavit. The victim worked at a bank and agreed to give Sfraga tips on foreclosures so that the two of them could invest in the properties and resell them. Sfraga made a few payments to the victims before eventually cutting off communication, court filings say.
He fooled a victim from Long Island and that victim's father into investing hundreds of thousands of dollars for real estate projects, according to the affidavit. Sfraga later convinced that same victim to give him $50,000 received in wedding gifts, court documents say. When the victim demanded the money back, Sfraga said his dad, who purportedly lived in Alaska, was dying and he had to see him.
Sfraga's Vandelay Corporation was supposedly tied to a cryptocurrency company — unnamed in the affadavit — with offices in Manhattan. He met another victim at the company's building in Manhattan where he introduced himself as TJ Stone, in apparent reference an alias used on the podcast 3 People Like This; and convinced him to give him $30,000 for Vandelay 'e wallets,' the affadavit says. Sfraga cashed the check that day.
When they scheduled an appointment for Sfraga to create an 'E wallet' on the victim's phone, he didn't show up; and when the victim asked for the money back, Sfraga said he was in the hospital after suffering a heart attack, court filings say. Then Sfraga cut off contact.
'Instead of investing money, I used some of it to cover my own expenses and to pay back earlier investors and business associates,' Sfraga told a judge at a guilty plea hearing. 'I knew that some of the assurances and guaranties that I made to investors were false, and that this was wrong.'
The demand from investors for their money back grew and Sfraga fled to Arizona where he spent his teenage years, according to prosecutors.
Sfraga lived there under a false identity on his return, court filings say. Police picked up on an unrelated property crime. Local police discovered his real name, learned he had an open warrant and arrested him on Sep. 18, 2023, according to prosecutors. He posted the $3,600 cash bond and fled again.
Police in Nevada arrested Sfraga on an unrelated issue — this time not paying his bill at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas — on December 23 of that year, prosecutors said.
Court filings say Sfraga was then handed over into federal custody on a warrant out of the Eastern District of New York where he was transported and brought to court in Brooklyn on Jan. 22, 2024.
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The mystery of Sfraga's scams is that he enjoyed a decent life, prosecutors said.
He was married to a wife described as 'unbelievably supportive' in court filings. He had two healthy children who were part of local teams. And some of his business ventures were successful, earning as much as $100,000 annually, according to prosecutors.
Court filings say he also made a 'living wage' from his podcast business which had over a million listeners and was sponsored by advertisers from 2017 to 2018. The podcast, a comedy show called 3 People Like This, has over 100 episodes on Apple Podcasts.
He spent his teenage years in Arizona. Sfraga moved to the state with his mom after his parents divorced, court filings say. He went to good schools and lived in a decent area. Prosecutors said he mostly stayed out of trouble then, aside from one unnamed 'incident.' He almost played college baseball for Arizona State University, according to court filings.
He married and had two children upon returning to Brooklyn as an adult, court documents say.
'[Sfraga] had every opportunity to enjoy a productive, law-abiding life,' prosecutors said. "Instead, he chose to cheat and swindle his neighbors and friends out of their savings to support his lifestyle.'
Michael Loria is a national reporter on the USA TODAY breaking news desk. Contact him at [e-mail], @mchael_mchael or on Signal at [phone].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: That's a shame: Brooklyn man sentenced for 'Seinfeldian' scheme