Heppner sentencing adjourned without new date as new counsel takes over

Bradley Heppner's sentencing, set for Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, was adjourned without a new date, according to a Southern District of New York spokesperson cited by InvestmentNews.

Heppner, the former chairman of GWG Holdings and Beneficient, was found guilty in May on four counts: securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, and false statements to auditors.

The charges stemmed from a scheme to fraudulently extract more than $150 million from GWG, which collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022.

Heppner faces a maximum of 20 years on each of the securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements counts and five years on the conspiracy count.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff last week approved removing Heppner's former counsel at Quinn Emanuel after court records indicated a "complete breakdown in communications," according to Kansas Reflector as cited by InvestmentNews.

Heppner has hired defense attorneys Alexandra Shapiro and Jonathan Bach, court documents reported by InvestmentNews show. He reportedly plans an appeal.

InvestmentNews reported that thousands of investors who bought more than $1 billion of GWG bonds were left with illiquid paper that does not trade and is now worthless.

Adam Gana, a plaintiffs' attorney who has sued broker-dealers over GWG bond sales, said replacing counsel with a sentencing date on the calendar "can appear like a delay tactic that is not usually looked upon favorably by a judge."