Hector May faces 20 years in prison, $19M in penalties for stealing millions from investors
Steve LiebermanWHITE PLAINS — Hector May has arrived at court and faces close to 20 years in prison Wednesday and nearly $20 million in penalties for ripping off $11.4 million from investors in what federal prosecutors called a 25-year Ponzi scheme during which May lived luxuriously off his clients' money.
May, 77, once an influential investment broker, an adviser to county executives and a Rockland Republican Party official, goes before Judge Vincent Briccetti for sentencing on his December guilty pleas to wire fraud and investment adviser fraud.
Briccetti will determine May's prison sentence.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommended May serve a prison term of 15 years and six months to 19 years and five months, according to court documents. Federal Probation Department officials recommended May serve 10 years in prison. May could face forfeiture and restitution totaling about $19.5 million.
FEDERAL SENTENCING MEMO: Prosecutors recommend long prison sentence for May
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The Orangetown man pleaded guilty to stealing from 16 groups of relatives, friends and other clients from 1993 to 2018, when federal officials raided his New City-based business, Executive Compensation Planners.
His daughter, Vania May Bell, is named by prosecutors as a co-conspirator and so far she faces civil financial penalties with her father before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and an $18 million private lawsuit by one investor. She was the company's comptroller and securities compliance specialist.
Prosecutors Margery Feinzig and Vladislav Vainberg argued in their sentencing memorandum that Briccetti should sentence May within the suggested guidelines, according to their memorandum.
"These groups included individuals, couples and employer pension plans, representing additional workers. May misrepresented to the clients that their money was being used to purchase bonds, when instead, May and his daughter simply stole the funds for their own business and personal needs," prosecutors wrote the judge.
"Put more simply May and (his daughter) funded their life for about 20 years with other people's stolen money," the prosecutors said.
May's lawyer, Kevin Conway, didn't ask for a specific sentence, but argued a long prison sentence is "patently unreasonable" and any significant prison time makes it "very likely he will die in prison,"
May's scheme was not the first one in Rockland in recent years.
Travel, limos, jewelry
May launched his New City-based business at age 41 in 1982. He eventually worked for Securities America as an investment contractor, sending his clients to the brokerage house after working out investment plans at his New City office. May admitted in court he paid back some of the victims to give the impression that all was well and keep the criminal enterprise going.
The federal investigation into May came to light in March 2018, as the U.S. Attorney's Office worked out a deal in December with May's attorney.
The prosecutors wrote Briccetti that the scheme involved May convincing his clients they would be better off to allow his company to purchase bonds for them outside of their broker accounts, claiming this would avoid certain transaction fees. He instructed his victims to send a check for the bond purchase to Executive Compensation's custodial account supposedly set up for each client’s benefit.
"May and his daughter used the money to pay salaries for themselves and other employees and fund business expenses, a limousine driver, Rockland Country Club dues, political contributions, home remodeling, travel, credit card bills, personal loans to friends, a vacation home and jewelry for May's wife," they wrote the judge.
The prosecutors offered Briccetti one example of May's chicanery and greed.
One family saw a member suffer a debilitating medical issue in 2015, according to the prosecutors. May managed their money for decades, ingratiating himself with the family by attending functions.
When the man's wife wanted to use their investments for his care, May persuaded her to hold off and invest more money with his company, suggesting she take out an equity loan. When she eventually went to another broker, she learned her family's accounts with May had been depleted.
After May "callously ignored (her) desperate calls and emails to him after she uncovered signs that their money was gone." her new broker went to the federal government, leading to the subpoena of May's records and closure of his business.
Prosecutors wrote that in 2017 and 2018, May needed more money to keep his scheme afloat and his own lavish lifestyle going, and decided to victimize his closest friends.
Three of his former clients plan to speak to the court at sentencing.
RBA, government supporters
Conway noted May's age and his community charity work. He cited May's need for medical care from his health issues, including diverticulitis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, asthma and sleep apnea.
Conway wrote May's actions were inexcusable and he's not asked for the court's sympathy or letters of support, though two people — Deputy County Executive J. Guillermo Rosa and Al Samuels of the Rockland County Business Association — filed letters supporting May with the judge. Conway said May failed as a broker and when his business failed, he used his clients money.
“However, in his own words, he lived a lie and although his intentions from the beginning were not to scheme or defraud, his poor judgment, lack of expertise in financial planning and general insecurities facilitated and maintained acts of fraud and deceit against people he considered friends and family for many many years," Conway wrote the judge.
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