Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to Securities Fraud, Faces SEC Suit

A South Carolina investment manager accused of a scheme to fraudulently raise at least $20 million from investors pleaded guilty to securities fraud and faces a parallel SEC suit in a New Jersey federal court, the Justice Department said.

George Heckler entered his plea via video conference in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the DOJ said. Prosecutors accused him of telling clients he’d “invest their funds in particular trading strategies” and instead paying out millions to earlier investors.

“Mr. Heckler accepts full responsibility for his conduct and has cooperated with both the SEC and the ...