A Jersey City, N.J., man has been indicted for allegedly stealing more than half a million dollars from clients of his investment firm and spending the money in Atlantic City casinos and online poker games and for other expenses, New Jersey Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced Tuesday.

Evan Kochav, 33, was indicted for allegedly using $561,000 from 10 investors for his personal expenses after promising to invest the money through his company, White Cedar Group LLC of Middletown, N.J. He was was charged with theft by deception, money laundering and misconduct by a corporate official.

He also is charged with writing four bad checks totaling more than $85,000 to a client who questioned where his money was. In an earlier action last year by the state Bureau of Securities, Kochav’s registration as a securities agent was revoked and his firm was fined $2 million.

Kochav is a professional gambler, according to the attorney general. In addition to using the money to gamble, he used the money to make nominal payments to some clients and to pay for dining, air travel, football games and other entertainment

 “Kochav bluffed investors like the poker player he is, claiming ties with lucrative business ventures around the globe to convince clients their hard-earned money was securely invested,” says Hoffman.

“Beyond his slick sales pitch, Kochav allegedly provided investors with fabricated account statements and false quarterly reports to create an illusion of legitimacy,” adds Elie Honig, director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.