Investing with this woman was a really bad bet.
Antoinette “Dina” Hodgson was accused this morning of gambling away wads of cash she allegedly scammed in a $45 million Ponzi scheme.
Hodgson, 58, of Montclair, N.J., “spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” according to a complaint charging her with conspiracy and wire fraud.
“Antoinette Hodgson allegedly has already proved she’s a lousy gambler by losing the investor’s money in the casinos,” said George Venizelos, acting head of the FBI’s New York office. “She has now gambled with her future and faces serious charges for a plot of her own making.”
Between 2006 and last year, Hodgson allegedly suckered more than 20 investors with false promises that she would use their money to buy and renovate residential properties, then flip them for huge profits.
But Hodgson only spent about $6 million on real-estate, and used the rest to repay her victims in what authorities called “a classic Ponzi scheme.”
“This case is a further reminder that whether the real estate market is up or down, innocent investors can be and will be targeted by unscrupulous fraudsters,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
In addition to blowing some of her illegal proceeds at the gaming tables, Hodgson allegedly spent $700,000 on a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise in Arizona and gave away tens of thousands of dollars to her family and friends.
She’s expected to appear in Manhattan federal court later today.
Her defense lawyer didn’t immediately a call for comment.