Financial planner accused in $2M Ponzi scheme

A financial planner ran a Ponzi scheme out of offices in Syosset and Bay Shore for two decades, stealing more than $2 million from clients including his father and sister, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead.

Jay Hoffman, 58, president of Security Income Planners in Bay Shore, promised customers returns of 9 percent to 12 percent, then used money paid by one investor to pay interest to another investor, prosecutors said. He pocketed a portion of the proceeds for "unrelated business and personal expenses," the Suffolk district attorney's office said.

Hoffman, of East Meadow, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a 24-count indictment, including 11 counts of second-degree grand larceny, 11 counts of third-degree grand larceny and two counts of scheme to defraud.

County Court Judge Gary Weber ordered him held on $250,000 bond or $125,000 cash bail. Hoffman was ordered to return to court May 21.

His Legal Aid attorney, Sean Dixon, declined to comment outside court.

Assistant District Attorney Melissa Eggers said in court that authorities believe Hoffman may have had as many as 40 victims. He allegedly ran the scheme from January 1989 to October 2009 out of his company, which was based in Syosset before moving to its present office at 83 E. Main St., Bay Shore.

Some of Hoffman's investors did not know they had been defrauded until Suffolk prosecutors launched an investigation, Eggers said.

In addition to Hoffman's family members, many of his childhood friends invested with him, prosecutors said.

Investments in Hoffman's scheme ranged from $5,000 to $400,000, prosecutors said. Some customers received full repayment of their investments, but others lost everything, prosecutors said.

Hoffman dashed the dreams of investors trying to save money for retirement, weddings and new homes, prosecutors said.

He told potential clients his investments included apartments that were going co-op and real estate purchases, and investments with lawyers and doctors, prosecutors said.