GR Man Admits Guilt in Defrauding Elderly, Paraplegic Widow Out of Life Savings

A Glen Rock hedge fund manager pleaded guilty to charges he defrauded investors – including a disabled, elderly woman – out of more than $4 million while he took lavish vacations, dropped thousands at chic nightclubs and purchased luxury cars.

George Sepero, 40, of Glen Rock pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion charges in federal court on Friday. He could spend more than 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said that beginning in 2009, Sepero and two co-defendants lured and fooled investors by claiming they had developed a secret computer algorithm that could yield returns of more than 170 percent.

The algorithm, in fact, never existed, Fishman said. to their role in what was described by authorities as a widespread ponzi scheme.

"Sepero and the others invested little or no money in foreign currency or any other investment vehicle, instead diverting the vast majority of victims’ investments to pay prior victims in Ponzi-scheme style and to finance extravagant personal expenditures," Fishman said.

The extravagance included monthly credit card bills of around $25,000; bar tabs of $18,000; $14,000 at a Hollywood nightclub; flights to Paris; and an $80,000 custom Ford pickup truck.

The defendants also created a fake identity, named "Mel Tannenbaum," to further deceive investors out of $3.5 million, Fishman said.

Elderly woman's life savings vanish

Sepero also pleaded guilty to an earlier fraud scheme, one in which prosecutors say he swindled a disabled elderly woman out of more than $700,000.

He had been fired from his job in 2006 as a financial planner over investigations but managed to take control of an annuity account of one "M.V." – an elderly widow who suffered from dementia, multiple sclerosis and was a paraplegic.

The account was the only means M.V. had to pay for her retirement and nursing expenses, Fishman said. Sepero fabricated account statements; the account actually held $16.57.

"Sepero placed recorded phone calls to the administrator of the annuity account, during which he impersonated both M.V.’s son and her husband, who had been dead for more than three years at the time Sepero made the calls," Fishman said.

The Glen Rock resident also pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in 2010.