Ex-Great Neck man accused of borrowing more than $50M, defrauding investors

A former Great Neck man is charged with borrowing more than $50 million and defrauding more than two dozen investors in five states, including convincing family members to invest their life savings in order to repay other lenders.

Jeffrey Parket, 58, of Manhattan, was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme from 2016 through November 2021, that led to more than $40 million in losses from at least 17 investors, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

He was arrested Feb. 11 and released without bail and ordered to surrender his passport, not to leave the New York City area or Long Island and ordered not to open any new bank accounts.

His Manhattan attorney Sam Braverman declined to comment Friday.

Parket is a former bond trader who ran several hedge funds in New York City and on Long Island. Federal prosecutors said Parket deceived lenders that he needed short-term financing for real estate investments, according to the complaint.

He is also accused of convincing family members to transfer funds by promising to invest their life savings on their behalf and pay them regular distributions. He pledged all his assets as collateral, but prosecutors said he instead used the funds to repay other lenders.

Parket’s mother declined to comment about the case.

Prosecutors said Parket promised to repay lenders with interest, but instead used loans to pay off day trading debts and previous loans. Prosecutors said he falsely inflated his net worth and investments in assets and valuable accounts.

The lenders were from New York, Florida, South Carolina, Minnesota and Utah.

"Beginning in January 2018, the defendant … fraudulently obtained millions of dollars from the lenders by misrepresenting his assets and falsely claiming that he needed short-term liquidity to pursue specific investment opportunities and to purchase real estate in Manhattan," the complaint said. "Parket used fraudulent representations and fake assets to obtain more than $50 million in loans from more than two dozen lenders. To date, at least 17 lenders have provided Parket approximately $40 million in loans that have not been repaid."

In some cases, authorities said Parket paid down fraudulent loans or convinced lenders to extend loans by claiming a company acquisition was delayed, while also using fake bank statements for loans from new lenders and close friends.

Several cases have been filed in New York State Court where Parket confessed to owed judgments of at least $5.5 million to lenders.

Parket emailed several lenders in December, "stating that he hurt people, he had no excuses and did not ask for forgiveness," according to court records. He said he would "own up to everything I have done."

A lawsuit by a Minnesota lender alleged that Parket and his wife defrauded them out of a $4 million loan, by listing a false net worth of $27.5 million. They claimed jewelry worth more than $1 million and art worth $500,000.

The lenders said Parket left a voicemail admitting to forging documents and stating: "I did horrible things to you. I lied to you. I cannot make any excuses for anything I’ve done."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.