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Ponzi scheme operator gets 20-year prison sentence

And yet "Social Security" is legal... go figure :-)

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer

Friday, May 14, 2010

(05-14) 16:55 PDT San Francisco, CA (AP) --

As more than 100 distraught and angry victims looked on, a federal judge on Friday sentenced a seemingly small-time neighborhood accountant to 20 years in prison for operating a $50 million Ponzi scheme for three decades.

Roberto Heckscher, 56, pleaded guilty in October to a single fraud count. His massive fraud was uncovered in June when he ran out of money, was unable to recruit any new investors and could no longer hold off his creditors. Heckscher turned himself in after attempting suicide by overdosing on pills.

His sentencing hearing lasted for more than three hours while U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston listened to several of his victims tell her about lost nest eggs, college funds and homes.

"My days are bleak," said Evelyn Fahnbulleh, who lost $187,000. "I'm destitute. Penniless. I just feel hopeless."

Former Los Angeles Rams football player Bob Fields angrily denounced Heckscher as a thief for the $1.7 million he lost.

Heckscher read a prepared statement apologizing to his victims. Heckscher said he started the scheme in 1979 after suffering big stock market losses and was never able to pull himself out of the hole he created. Heckscher claims that he never benefited personally from the scam and lived modestly.

"I have lived an exemplary, violence-free life," Heckscher said to catcalls and sobbing from the gallery.

Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

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