George Janssen, a Michigan poker ace who previously claimed to be the target of a complex kidnapping plot and is currently awaiting sentencing for fraud, won a Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) tournament this week.
Janssen Wins Tournament While Awaiting Court’s Decision
Janssen topped a field of 312 players in a $400 buy-in Ultimate Stack No-Limit Hold’em event at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, earning $18,556. A four-time World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP) ring winner, he now boasts over $480,000 in live tournament earnings.
However, the new champion is just two months away from finding out how long he’ll serve in prison. That’s because the Michiganian is scheduled to be sentenced in December for felony financial institution fraud. According to federal prosecutors, he carried out a scheme to defraud credit unions by submitting fraudulent auto-loan applications between 2016 and 2023. Prosecutors claim Janssen concocted the kidnap story in a desperate bid to cover mounting debts and conceal years of financial misconduct.
Janssen was charged earlier this year with defrauding several institutions before an alleged kidnapping. Federal prosecutors allege that between 2016 and 2023, he orchestrated a scheme to defraud credit unions by submitting false auto-loan applications. The month before his disappearance, Janssen reportedly had his license to sell cars in Michigan revoked for five years due to allegations of falsifying business documents.
Here’s How Jensen Allegedly Made the Fraud
Prosecutors allege that financial strain was intensifying for George Janssen in the weeks leading up to his disappearance. They accuse him of using falsified documents to “float” loans, taking out multiple loans using the same vehicle as collateral through his car dealership.
According to a November 2023 missing persons report, Janssen told a friend prior to the alleged kidnapping that he had been the target of a two-year-long extortion campaign by a criminal organization. He claimed the threats began when a masked man held him at gunpoint in a Detroit casino parking garage, demanding $2 million, which was an amount Janssen said he didn’t have.
Janssen reportedly told the friend that the extortionists later provided him with a burner phone to maintain communication and threatened to harm his family if he failed to comply. He said he was ordered to drop off boxes of cash at specific, prearranged locations.
Janssen faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. However, his guilty plea and clean criminal record could lower his sentence to under ten years under federal sentencing guidelines.