Nassau Business Owner Pleads Guilty To Role In Ponzi Scheme

HICKSVILLE, NY–Kevin Brody, 55, a former insurance broker, pleaded guilty to scamming at least 50 people-many of them seniors–out of more than $12 million in a Ponzi scheme, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced on Monday.

Brody, of Stroudsburg, PA, pled guilty on Friday to second-degree grand larceny (a C felony) and fourth-degree conspiracy (an E felony) before Judge Robert Schwartz. He is expected to be sentenced to 2 1-3 to seven years in prison on September 12. As part of the plea, Brody forfeited approximately $5 million that will be used towards restitution for the victims.

The case against his co-defendant, Matthew Eckstein, is still pending.

"This defendant lured hard-working men and women with a web of lies, duping them into paying thousands of dollars for the promise of a high return of investment," Singas said via press release.

According to Singas, starting in January 2015, an elderly person agreed to invest around $385,000 into Conmac Funding Corp., a Hicksville-based company owned by Brody and Eckstein. The person was assured that the investment was safe, had no risk and the principal would be returned after a two-year waiting period with additional four percent interest, like a certificate of deposit.

After having waited two years, in January 2017, the senior asked for the return of the money. A payment of just $26,699 was sent back. The person never heard back from the company again despite continuing to ask for the return of the remaining principal and interest.

Later that year, in November, an investigation was launched after the senior reported the incident to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which referred the case to the NCDA. The investigation proceeded to find that at least 50 people were victimized in a similar fashion out of a sum of $12 million by the defendants.

Some victims believed they were investing in something akin to a certificate of deposit with a guaranteed interest rate, while others were told that the money would be used to finance premium insurance loans.

The defendants are accused of using the money to fund other business ventures including hamburger restaurants, personal purchases and paying other victims of the scheme, as opposed to investing it into Conmac.

As part of the scheme, victims were also provided with a username and password for www.conmacfunding.com. There, they could view their account statement and growing account balance, leading them to think that their principal investment was with Conmac Funding and earning interest.

The NCDA's Asset Forfeiture Bureau froze all the defendants' known assets, including their bank accounts and real estate properties. As a result, much of the money will be returned to the victims.

The alleged victims hail from Massapequa, Seaford, Smithtown, Melville, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Norwalk, CT, Jupiter, FL and Redlands, CA.