By John Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Two Greater Cincinnati men face 102 counts of securities fraud in Ripley County, Ind., accused of defrauding investors there of $945,000.

Gary Bentz and John Brinker Jr. of Hamilton County face charges of selling unregistered securities, selling securities without registering as brokers, and misrepresenting the securities. A third man, Leonard Eckstein of Sunman, Ind., also faces 53 charges of securities fraud in the case.

Ripley County Prosecutor Richard Hertel said the men are accused of offering investments in Wellington Capital, an off-shore bank, that promised returns of 20 percent to 100 percent, sometimes in as little as three months.

Each charge carries a sentence of two to eight years. Bentz is free on $30,000 bond, and Eckstein is free on $15,000 bond, but Brinker has yet to turn himself in, Hertel said.

Neither the FBI nor Bentz's court-appointed lawyer responded to requests for an interview. Lawyers for Eckstein and Brinker could not be located.

Trial is set for next January.

This marks the first criminal indictments of Bentz and Brinker in the three years since prosecutors in the region became aware of their activities. The two were the subject of a 2001 civil suit filed in Indianapolis by the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to recover $20.3 million taken from investors. A federal judge there last year ordered the pair to repay $17.4 million to investors, but little has been recovered.

A related case in Clermont County in August saw the indictment of two Northern Kentucky men, also for securities fraud, in relation to investments in Wellington. In addition, the FBI has looked into the case, but no criminal charges have been filed.

Prosecutor Hertel said Bentz told the court at his hearing Friday that he has no assets.

Eckstein, however, told the court that he owned 27 rental properties, four businesses, nine cars and a motor home, so any restitution might come from those assets, Hertel said.

E-mail johnb@enquirer.com