A New York man was sentenced for his role in a $12 million Ponzi scheme that targeted nearly 50 victims from throughout the region and the nation between 2015 and 2017.
Long Island resident Matthew Eckstein, age 52, of Syosset, was sentenced on Monday, July 11 to three-and-a-half to 10-and-a-half years in prison.
Eckstein originally pleaded guilty to the charges on September 26, 2019, but later withdrew his plea. A new indictment was secured in August 2020, but court closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the case.
“This defendant preyed upon seniors and hard-working men and women, duping them out of their retirement savings and other finances, and using the money to fund business ventures and pay for his own personal expenses,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.
The victims were from Massapequa, Seaford, Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Plainview, Woodmere, Wantagh, Hewlett Harbor, Woodbury, Hicksville, Merrick, Oceanside, Smithtown, Melville, Dix Hills, Farmingdale, Miller Place, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Westchester, Norwalk, CT, Jupiter, FL, Redlands, CA, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Donnelly said that:
- Beginning in January 2015, an elderly victim for whom Eckstein worked as a personal accountant and financial advisor, agreed to invest approximately $385,000 into a Hicksville-based company owned by co-defendant Kevin Brody, a resident of Pennsylvania,…
