Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a former investment broker from Glen Cove was sentenced today up to seven and a half years in prison for running a $1 million Ponzi scheme that targeted friends and acquaintances.
Rand Heckler, 67, pleaded guilty in April 2023 before Judge Terence Murphy to one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony) and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (an E felony). The defendant was sentenced today to two and a half to seven and a half years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of three to nine years in prison. The defendant also received a civil judgement order for the restitution balance of $919,160 and forfeited $48,000 that was seized from his bank account.
“This defendant executed a classic Ponzi scheme, promising his friends and neighbors high-value investments, using money from new investors to pay earlier ones, and ultimately stealing a total of more than $1 million from several victims,” said DA Donnelly. “Heckler lived large off of his victims’ funds, paying for a country club membership, the mortgage on his home, and his daily living expenses. Having a trusted financial advisor is essential to making safe and smart investments. Rand Heckler used the trust of friends and neighbors against them only to enrich himself.”
DA Donnelly said that beginning in 2015, the defendant recommended to his friend and friend’s son that they invest in a hedge fund of stocks and securities that he was managing. The offer was only to be for Heckler’s closest 15 to 20 friends and associates.
Between December 2015 and January 2020, the victims wrote Heckler 24 checks, totaling $755,159. During that time, the defendant showed them statements with the names of the stocks and the hedge fund account’s current value. The defendant also showed them false trade confirmations as proof that the stocks had been purchased.
In January 2020, the friend’s son, who has power of attorney for his father, asked the defendant for $100,000 from his father’s account, part of which was for his children’s trust fund. In February 2020, after several weeks of delay, he received the $100,000 via a wire to his bank account and was told the money was from the sale of stock.
However, the NCDA discovered in May 2020, after receiving the case from the Securities and Exchange Commission, that the money was wired directly from another victim in February. That victim, the defendant’s neighbor, went to the bank with the defendant in February 2020 believing she was wiring a $100,000 life insurance payment from her deceased husband into the hedge fund, when in fact, she was wiring the money directly to the first victim’s son.
The defendant’s neighbor was led to believe she would receive monthly dividend payments from her investment and did not know there was a problem until NCDA investigators contacted her.
During the investigation, at least two other victims were discovered to have been defrauded by the defendant in a similar manner.
The defendant solicited additional victims by cold-calling people in other states and getting them to agree to invest.
Heckler spent the money on his mortgage, a country club membership, credit card payments and daily expenses like dry cleaning and phone bills.
In total, he stole $1,004,159 from four victims.
The Nassau County District Attorney wishes to thank the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for bringing this case to our attention.
Deputy Chief Betty Rodriguez of the Financial Crimes Bureau, Unit Chief Rebecca Winer and Senior Investigative Counsel Jennifer Russo of the Civil Forfeiture Unit are prosecuting this case. Michael Finkelstein, Esq. represents the defendant.