A federal court sentenced Thomas John Sfraga, a Brooklyn-based podcaster and crypto personality known as "TJ Stone," to 45 months in prison for wire fraud related to illicit cryptocurrency and real estate schemes.
The court also ordered Sfraga to pay an additional $1,337,700 in forfeiture, according to a Friday release from the United States Department of Justice.
Along with convincing individuals to invest in construction and renovation projects that never happened, Sfraga persuaded one of his at least 17 victims to invest in a fake cryptocurrency digital wallet — promising returns of up to 60% in three months. Sfraga then pocketed the funds for his own benefit and to pay back earlier victims, among other personal uses, the DOJ release continues. Sfraga duped investors out of around $2 million through these sham endeavors.
Sfraga also claimed to run numerous businesses, including a fictitious one called "Vandelay Contracting Corp," a nod to "Vandelay Industries," the fake company name the character George Costanza frequently used in the sitcom Seinfeld.
"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, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement. "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 pled guilty to wire fraud charges in May 2024, The Block previously reported.
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