SEC v. George Heckler (2021)

Settled

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In March 2021 the SEC charged adviser George Heckler with a decade-long fraud using hedge funds to hide another fund's losses, and the SEC reported a 63-month sentence in a parallel criminal case. He consented to an injunction in April 2021 and to a final judgment in May 2024 ordering about $2.49 million in disgorgement and $783,034 in interest, deemed satisfied by his criminal restitution order.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$2.5m

Prejudgment interest

$783k

Total relief

$3.3m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The SEC announced the sentence on July 28, 2021 (LR-25151); the civil case is in the District of New Jersey. From 2009 to 2019 Heckler raised new capital, told investors it was in short-term trading, but much of it was not invested or paid some prior investors, and he sent false statements.

The Ponzi tag is removed because the release describes a loss-concealment fraud through hedge funds, with Ponzi-like payments one use. The record omitted the 63-month sentence.

Outcome. The final judgment against Heckler, which the SEC posted as a court filing, records that he had already consented to a judgment entered on April 21, 2021 and then consented to this final judgment. It repeats the permanent injunctions against the Exchange Act, Securities Act and Advisers Act provisions, and finds him liable for disgorgement of about $2.49 million plus prejudgment interest of $783,033.91, $3,277,199.91 in total. It deems that obligation satisfied in light of the restitution ordered in his criminal case (No. 21-203, D.N.J.). The SEC's whistleblower notice dates the qualifying judgment May 10, 2024, the date recorded. The posted copy is a poor scan, so the disgorgement figure was read from the total and the interest and should be checked against the court record. Heckler consented, so the judgment is not a trial finding.

Timeline

1. 2021-07-28 Litigation release published
2. 2021-04-21 Earlier consent judgment entered (cited in final judgment)
3. 2024-05-10 Final consent judgment (qualifying judgment date per SEC notice)

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• Final judgment as to George Heckler (D.N.J.)
• SEC whistleblower notice 2024-079

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.