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Ex-Banker Sentenced in Credit-Data Scam

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

A former Tustin bank president was placed on a three-year probation Wednesday for providing five Las Vegas casinos with phony credit information that was used to set up credit lines for several alleged organized crime figures.

Roger McGinnis, 52, of Orange was sentenced to 300 hours of community service by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles.

McGinnis, a former president of Far Western Bank, had faced a maximum five-year prison term and a $10,000 fine after he pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy.

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In deciding on the probation sentence, Wilson said McGinnis had suffered enough from the stigma of a felony conviction, adding that he didn’t want to ruin the former executive’s chances of employment.

Based on the information provided by McGinnis, the casinos loaned thousands of dollars to John DeMattia and Morton Goodman. The Justice Department has linked the two to a Los Angeles organized crime family.

The casinos were Binion’s Horseshoe, the Las Vegas Hilton, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, the Sands Hotel and Casino and the Desert Inn and Country Club.

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