{"id":15222,"date":"2015-09-02T20:49:12","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T03:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=15222"},"modified":"2015-09-02T20:49:12","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T03:49:12","slug":"man-duped-280-investors-about-plans-to-build-disney-park-in-texas-news-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=15222","title":{"rendered":"Man Duped 280 Investors About Plans to Build Disney Park in Texas (News Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHERMAN, TEXAS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A federal judge sentenced a\u00a035-year-old Plano, Texas man to more than 17 years in prison for conning 280 investors out of $20 million by telling them that he had insider\u00a0information regarding a Walt Disney resort and theme parks planned for the North Texas area, officials said.<\/p>\n

He was sentenced to prison for\u00a0defrauding investors in Texas, officials said.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/a>
Thomas W. Lucas, Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thomas W. Lucas, Jr.,<\/strong> was convicted on Feb. 13, 2015, of seven counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.<\/p>\n

According to Lucas, the Disney Resort and Theme Park was originally set to be called, \u201cThe King Ranch Project,\u201d but that changed in 2007 to \u201cFrontier Disney DFW,\u201d both of which were completely fabricated.<\/p>\n

Disney witnesses, including Disney\u2019s then chairman of Parks and Resorts and executive assistants, testified at the trial that the information presented to investors by Lucas was not authentic. They said Disney never had any intentions of opening a Disney resort and theme park in north Texas at any time, officials said.<\/p>\n

Lucas\u2019s schemed to defraud solicited two types of investors\u2014those that invested in options to purchase land supposedly near the Walt Disney property and those that actually purchased land supposedly near the Walt Disney property.<\/p>\n

The evidence\u00a0showed tens of millions of dollars more were raised based on Lucas\u2019s fraudulent Disney information. The value of the land purchased was subtracted to determine the overall loss amount of approximately $20 million, according to officials.<\/p>\n

The 65 investors that invested in options to purchase land lost all of their money invested, which was slightly over $8 million, and received no interest in land.<\/p>\n

Officials said Lucas pocketed approximately $450,000 from fees and commissions gleaned from the various land deals closed on his fraudulent Disney information.<\/p>\n

When confronted by the FBI about the scheme, Lucas falsely blamed the Disney information on a man he had previously met at a methadone rehabilitation clinic, who is now deceased. Lucas was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sep. 11, 2013.<\/p>\n

Lucas was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8.4 million to the investors who invested in options to purchase land, and was immediately taken into custody, according to officials.
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