The poker world couldn’t believe what they were hearing when George Janssen claimed last year he was the victim of a bizarre $2m kidnapping and extortion scheme. The FBI clearly didn’t buy his story and has charged the 42-year-old with bank fraud.
Janssen claimed he was held against his will for 33 days and that the Mexican cartel extorted him for over two years, saying he regularly left $25,000 in cash in drop boxes for them. He turned up zip-tied and bloodied on the side of the road in his small hometown in Ohio.
lost his dealership sales license for five years just two weeks before allegedly going missing
The former car dealer had lost his dealership sales license for five years just two weeks before allegedly going missing in November 2023 as he was caught falsifying business documents.
The authorities arrested the four-time WSOPC ring winner on Wednesday. The complaint outlines how Janssen withdrew nearly $75,000 in cash right before disappearing and wrote checks to himself from his dealerships for about $44,000.
Law enforcement subsequently found $3.9m in bank loans that Janssen’s associates took out, $3.3m of which remained outstanding. Several people approached the FBI, saying that Janssen defrauded them.
His son, who worked at the dealership, is cooperating with the authorities and explained that his father was “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” He now faces up to three decades in prison and a possible $1m fine for the bank fraud charge.