A man who swindled millions of dollars out of eleven people in a real estate scam was sentenced to nearly ten years in prison and ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitution, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Officials said 44-year-old Timothy Mark Brachmanis will spend nine years and eight months in state prison after pleading guilty to three counts of grand theft, a violation of the tax code and admitting to aggravated white collar crime enhancements.
According to San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Brachmanis tricked his eleven victims out of more than $3 million by posing as a real estate investment attorney who wanted them to invest in a variety of properties which he said would be developed and later sold at a profit.
He told victims they would be equal partners in some of the investments, officials said.
Instead, Brachmanis reportedly used their money only as down payments, diverted it to fund other, unrelated projects, or in some cases kept the money for himself, according to prosecutors in the case.
Branchmanis’ scam was up after a joint investigation was launched by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Franchise Tax Board.
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