Financial planning exec facing prison after guilty plea in conspiracy case

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WHITE PLAINS – A former comptroller and chief compliance officer of a Rockland County financial planning firm has pled guilty to conspiring to defraud clients.  The US Attorney’s office announced the plea on Tuesday.

Vania May Bell, the former comptroller and chief compliance officer of Executive Compensation Planners, Inc. (“ECP”), a registered investment adviser and financial planning firm located in New City, pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy with her father, Hector May, the former president of ECP, to defraud certain investment advisory clients out of more than $11 million, according to Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“As Vania May Bell admitted, for years, she and her father, Hector May, violated the trust of ECP’s clients by taking their money intended for investments and instead spending it for personal and business expenses as part of an illegal Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “In total, Bell and May stole more than $11 million from over 15 victims that included a pension plan, and vulnerable and elderly individuals.  Now, she has confessed to her crime and faces significant time in prison.”

Bell, 57, of Montvale, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing before Judge Nelson Román has been scheduled for July 7, 2022.

Bell’s father, Hector May, the president of ECP was sentenced in 2019 to 13 years in prison for participating in the conspiracy.  May, 78, of Orangeburg, was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $8,041,233 in restitution, and forfeit $11,452,185.to defraud certain investment advisory clients (the “Victims”) out of more than $11 million.

 




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