Brooklyn man's Seinfeld joke turns out to be multi-million dollar scam
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.
Ponzi schemes, pig-butchering and more: How to protect yourself from crypto scams
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.
Promises of gold mines: Ex-NFL player gets prison for running Ponzi scheme
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 mloria@usatoday.com, @mchael_mchael or on Signal at (202) 290-4585.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: That's a shame: Brooklyn man sentenced for 'Seinfeldian' scheme
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It is unknown whether he fell or jumped from his yacht, he named after his daughter, Lady Ghislaine. Shortly after, it was revealed that he had stolen $824 million from pension funds. A relationship with mutual benefits Maxwell and Epstein were inseparable for almost a decade. She met Epstein, then a hedge fund manager, through a mutual friend when she moved to New York City in 1991. She was 30; he was 38. The friendship made sense. She knew wealthy and connected people. She has been photographed with Prince Andrew, Naomi Campbell, Mick Jagger, Michael Bloomberg. Epstein needed them. She needed to maintain the lifestyle provided by her late father, who had owned the Mirror Group and the New York Daily News. Maxwell and Epstein dated for a while, then they were friends. She began working for him, taking care of his homes, hiring staff, architects and contractors in 1992 and did so on and off through 2009. Photos of them from society pages and those shown at her trial often look as if they come from a Ralph Lauren ad, moneyed plaid with a perfect looking golden retriever in a grassy area, tuxedos and gowns in dark wood paneled rooms. She wears the uniform of old money: button ups, crewneck sweaters, minimal makeup and simple jewelry like diamond or pearl stud earrings. They embrace in front of an ocean, on a yacht, in a helicopter or on a private jet. He often looks straight ahead; she looks at him. There are celebrities in some: Trump. Harvey Weinstein, Michael Bolton. Paris Hilton. 'We were very friendly,' she would say. In 1995, Epstein named one of his companies the Ghislaine Corporation. More than 1,000 victims Maxwell had another job for Epstein. At her 2021 trial, prosecutors portrayed her as a sophisticated predator who befriended young girls and lured them into sex with Epstein. She bought them gifts including cowboy boots and Prada purses, flattered them and promised to help support them through school. 'Years of sexual abuse, multiple victims, devastating psychological harm. None of this could have happened without Maxwell,' the prosecutors said of the more than 1,000 victims. Four women shared stories at her trial, including one woman who was 17 when she met Maxwell in Paris. 'She seemed to be everything that I wanted to be. And she seemed to like me,' said the woman who was referred to as Kate. 'I left that feeling exhilarated, like somebody wanted me, like somebody wanted to be my friend.' Later Maxwell would invite her to massage Epstein, who initiated sexual contact. This happened several times over the following years in London, New York, Palm Beach and Epstein's private island. After the massages, Kate testified, Maxwell always complimented her: 'You're such a good girl. And I'm so happy you were able to come. This is really great. And he obviously likes you a lot.' Annie Farmer testified with her real name at the trial. She had met Maxwell when she was a high school student in Arizona and her older sister worked for Epstein. She said Maxwell told her that Epstein wanted to help her pay for college. She also said that Maxwell sexually abused her when she visited Epstein's New Mexico ranch. 'She pulled the sheet down and exposed my breasts and started rubbing on my chest and on my upper breasts,' Farmer said. 'I was surprised. I wanted so badly to get off of the table.' During her trial, Maxwell remained 'expressing no frailty and certainly no regret,' The New Yorker reported. Maxwell tried to reverse the roles in court. While a courtroom sketch artist drew her, Maxwell began to sketch the artist back. Maxwell has maintained she didn't know about Epstein's abuse. She said in a 2016 deposition that she learned about the allegations against him 'like everybody else, like the rest of the world, when it was announced in the papers.' And she says she never hired anyone under 18. 'I hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, pool people, pilots. I hired all sorts of people," Maxwell said during a deposition for a civil suit in April 2016. 'A very small part of my job was to find adult professional massage therapists for Jeffrey. As far as I'm concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person.' Perhaps you are not really familiar with what massage is 'Was it Jeffrey's preference to start a massage with sex?' a lawyer asked Maxwell during a 2016 deposition. 'Perhaps you are not really familiar with what massage is. Massage is for health benefits,' Maxwell replied, adding that Epstein received one massage each day. A few years before Maxwell was arrested, a woman named Virginia Giuffre had alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to Prince Andrew when she was a teenager. Maxwell denied it, and Giuffre filed a civil suit against her. During Maxwell's deposition, she calls Giuffre a liar 36 times, argues with attorneys and slaps the table in disgust. When Giuffre says that Maxwell and Epstein bought her gifts, she doesn't just say no when shown a photo of Giuffre in a Burberry dress. 'I would never. The outfit doesn't work at all.' Prince Andrew never acknowledged the abuse. He settled a civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre. She killed herself in April of this year. Loyalty, with a price When Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in 2008, he spent less than 13 months in a minimum-security jail and was allowed to leave for 12 hours a day for work. He settled several civil lawsuits against him and paid restitution to victims. Maxwell continued to work for him. When asked why during the 2016 deposition, she said: 'I'm a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away and I believe that you need to be a good friend in people's hour of need and I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in very limited fashion which was helping if he had any issue with his homes in terms of the staffing issues. It was very very minor, but I felt it was thoughtful in somebody's hour of need.' Bank records shown at her trial reveal that Epstein paid Maxwell more than $30 million during the years they were together. The waiting game In prison, Maxwell is also allowed to spend up to $360 each month in the commissary, shopping once a week for vegetarian items such as $4.95 Fruity Dyno Bites or $2.55 vegan bags of Boom Chicka popcorn. 'You're supposed to have either hummus or cottage cheese or tofu, but most of the time, it's tofu if it's anything or beans. And then the tofu has no seasoning, there's no seasoning allowed. No salt or pepper or anything. So, it's beyond tasteless,' she told a British TV host in 2023 of the food served. As Maxwell serves her time in Florida as one of the most powerful prisoners in American history, she is reportedly in an 'honors dorm,' which would likely offer her a private room, however prison officials won't confirm her accommodations. Maxwell was in a detention center in Brooklyn before she was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee in 2022. Some of her crimes took place in Florida. While at the Brooklyn center, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' president sent a letter on her behalf to get her access to more nonmeat meals. It is believed that Maxwell is receiving vegan meals in Florida. The prison wouldn't comment, but a PETA spokeswoman confirmed, saying the group advocated for non-meat meals 'not only for vegans but for people who are convicted of violent crime as we believe they should not be permitted to engage in more violent acts by eating animals.' On July 24 and 25, she was able to leave the prison for the first time to meet with Department of Justice lawyers at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee. Maxwell has sought to overturn her conviction and has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, which the Justice Department has opposed. When asked on Monday if he would consider pardoning Maxwell, Trump said he is 'allowed' to, but it would be 'inappropriate' to discuss it. After her 2020 arrest, when asked if Maxwell might cut a deal with prosecutors, Trump said: "I just wish her well." The one thing Maxwell could never have Was Epstein the one thing Maxwell wanted but could never have? She was asked in a deposition if she was Epstein's girlfriend in 2004. 'Define what you mean by girlfriend,' Maxwell said. 'Were you in a relationship with him where you would consider yourself his girlfriend? Did you ever consider yourself his girlfriend?' the lawyer asked. 'That's a tricky question,' Maxwell says. 'There were times when I would have liked to think of myself as his girlfriend,' she says. When asked about their relationship again, she says: 'I don't know if I would have ever characterized myself as his girlfriend, but at that time (redacted) was with him as much if more than I was.' Her job, 'was to take care of Jeffrey's needs,' Kate testified at trial. With Epstein dead, Maxwell awaits for the second-best thing: her freedom. Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focusing on health and wellness. She is the author of "Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal," and can be reached at ltrujillo@
