A bond hearing has been set for a Villager accused of swindling fellow residents of more than $3 million.
John Michael Gissas, 73, of the Village of Gilchrist has been held since Sept. 28 at the Sumter County Detention Center on multiple charges of fraud. At his first appearance in Sumter County Court, his attorney asked that the $660,000 bond that had been set be reduced. The judge refused.
A bond hearing has been set for Dec. 12 as the result of a bond reduction motion filed by Gissas’ attorney.
According to the investigation that led to his arrest, Gissas placed ads in The Villages Daily Sun inviting residents to his investment seminars at the Waterfront Inn and VKI Japanese Steakhouse at Lake Sumter Landing. A Villages couple saw the ad in 2019 and attended Gissas’ seminar. They gave him $529,854 and never got a penny of it back. Another Villager lost $794,000 when she invested with Gissas. A total of 27 investors lost a total of $3.7 million with Gissas, according to the investigation report. There were said to be others who either could not be contacted or were too embarrassed to go on the record. The financial crimes investigator for the Florida Office of Financial Regulation found that Gissas from May 2018 to July 2020 “systematically deceived and took advantage” of the victims.
In the motion to reduce bond, Gissas’ attorney claims his client is a victim, too.
“He invested $350,000 of his own money into the same fund he is accused of knowing was fraudulent. Mr. Gissas lost a substantial portion of his savings that he lived off during his later years, and he is a man of reasonable means,” his attorney wrote in the motion.
The attorney added that Gissas is not a flight risk as he owns a home in The Villages and does not have a valid passport.
Gissas would be willing to wear a GPS monitoring device, the attorney added.
The motion said the Gissas is entitled to “affordable” bond.
