Daughter of convicted adviser pleads guilty to fraud

Vania May Bell, the daughter of the president of a New York-based registered investment advisory firm who pled guilty in 2018 to stealing $11.5 million from investors, this week pled guilty to a related conspiracy.

Bell, 57, is the former comptroller and chief compliance officer of Executive Compensation Planners Inc. of New City, N.Y., a suburb of Manhattan, where her father, Hector May, was president.

Monday, Bell pled guilty before a judge in the Southern District of New York to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

Sentencing before Judge Nelson S. Román has been scheduled for July.

In 2019, Hector May was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $8.4 million in restitution.

“As Vania May Bell admitted, for years, she and her father, Hector May, violated the trust of [Executive Compensation Planners'] clients by taking their money intended for investments and instead spending it for personal and business expenses as part of an illegal Ponzi scheme," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

"In total, Bell and May stole more than $11 million from over 15 victims that included a pension plan, and vulnerable and elderly individuals," Williams said. "Now, she has confessed to her crime and faces significant time in prison."