A California man who stole $6 million from thousands of victims by promising them "mystery shopper" jobs was sentenced Monday to 6 years in federal prison.
Stevan Todorovic, 40, of Santa Ynez, was convicted last July of seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud.
Todorovic set up companies in Santa Barbara -- the American Bartending Institute and Consumer Response Group -- to sell bogus training programs, "certifications" and job referrals, prosecutors said. He advertised bartending and "mystery shopping" jobs in newspapers around the country, and claimed his victims had to buy his "certification" programs to get work. But the certifications were worthless and Todorovic had no jobs to offer.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said 87,400 people were victimized by the scam, paying an average of $71 per person.
U.S. District Judge Terry H. Hatter told Todorovic he not only stole large amounts of money from a large number of victims but also causeda “loss of hope, a loss of opportunity.”
