Ponzi schemer Healy’s items set for auction

Published: 2011-04-07 14:47:59
Author: Susan R. Miller

  While Ponzi schemer Sean Nathan Healy serves his 15-year prison sentence, dozens of items he bought with his ill-gotten gains will be sold to the highest bidder later this month.

Healy traded in his $2.4 million home in Weston for a room at La Tuna – a low-security federal prison in Texas – after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in March 2010.

 

In July 2009, he was charged with taking as much as $20 million from about 50 investors by promising to use the money to trade in securities and commodities on their behalf. He operated under the name Sand Dollar Investing Partners.

 

Rather than invest the money, he used it to purchase luxury cars – including Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris – jewelry, gold bullion and dozens of other collectibles, according to the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

In addition to the SEC civil suit, Healy was the target of a criminal investigation. He was indicted by a grand jury three months after the civil suit was filed.

Healy was ordered to pay $16.7 million in restitution to investors who lost $6,000 to $2.7 million, according to court documents.

 

Melanie E. Damian, of Damian & Valori in Miami, who was appointed the receiver in his case, said she has collected a little more than $3.5 million from the sale of the cars, jewelry and gold.

Damian said investors can expect between 20 and 25 cents on the dollar, which is a good rate of return in a case like this.

“They usually lose more of the money by doing investments,” she said. “But, in this case, because he wasn’t making investments, we were able to get more.”

 

Among the items to be sold by Michael Moecker & Associates at the April 27 auction are a guitar signed by rockers including Madonna and Prince; several oversized, jewel-encrusted Paris Hilton watches; gold-plated Versace silverware; and Giuseppe Armani figurines.

 

Damian said she is hoping to net more than $100,00 from the sale.

 

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