Erie County Financial Planner Admits To Larceny And Fraud

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that an Erie County financial planner has pleaded guilty to three felony charges stemming from a scheme which took advantage of elderly victims.

The defendant, Randall Cedrik, 43, a financial planner from Angola, pled guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class "D" felony, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class "E" felony and Fraud in the Sale of Securities, a Class "E" felony. Judge Michael L. D’Amico accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for March 18 in Erie County Court. Cedrik will be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison.

At today’s appearance, Cedrik admitted that he made false representations to convince several elderly people to invest vast sums of their savings in his company, Global Assets Consulting. According to court records, he encouraged some of his clients to secure home equity loans to fund additional investments. To induce these investments he guaranteed a return on investment of 8.25 percent as well as a partial interest in his company.

"The criminal resolution of this matter brings the anticipated recovery of $457,844 to three elderly investors and sends a message that unscrupulous activity by investment advisors will not be tolerated," Spitzer said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General James M. Morrissey of the Buffalo Regional Office and Cydney A. Kelly of the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Viola Abbitt. Assisting in the investigation was Harold Frank of the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigation Bureau.