Key Figure in Real-Estate Scam Sentenced to 4 Years

A principal in one of the San Fernando Valley’s largest real estate Ponzi schemes on record was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for defrauding investors out of nearly $37 million, the district attorney’s office said.

Stanley Glickman, 59, who faced up to 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme, was also ordered to pay $36,957,800 restitution to his victims.

From 1970 to 1991, Glickman and his father-in-law, Elliot Fine, ran Property Mortgage Co. in Sherman Oaks. The company lured more than 1,000 retirees and other investors by paying up to 15% interest on what appeared to be safe investments, primarily second mortgages.

But when the Valley’s real estate market nose-dived in the late 1980s, Glickman and Fine, who died in 1995, started taking cash from new investors to pay off interest owed old investors, said Brent Collier, a deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

In April, Glickman, who lives near Palm Springs, pleaded guilty to 17 felony counts involving grand theft, corporate securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

Glickman pleaded guilty to charges involving just $1.2 million in losses, but Collier said the scheme actually cost investors close to the $36,957,800 he was ordered to repay.

“There were some older people who were forced to go back to work as a result,” Collier said. “This was their total investment for their retirement and now they are living on Social Security.”

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As part of his plea agreement, Glickman waived his right to an appeal, Collier said. He was taken into custody Monday and will have to serve at least half his term before he is eligible for parole.

Gerald Chaleff, Glickman’s attorney, said in April his client accepted the plea bargain because the case had gone on long enough. He denied that Glickman ran a Ponzi scheme.

Before the company ran out of cash on Valentine’s Day 1991, Glickman had lost more than $10 million of his own family’s money, much of which came from his wife’s relatives, Collier said.

On Monday, some of those family members were among the roughly 75 victims who attended the sentencing hearing in Department 107 of Los Angeles Superior Court.

“I think it’s a perfect sentence and a long time coming,” said one woman, who asked to remain anonymous.

The woman, whose family reportedly lost nearly $7 million, said she was afraid that Glickman would be given probation.

“We’re thrilled to see him humiliated,” she said. “If he spends two years of getting locked up every single night, it’s fine.”

Two other defendants in the case, Elliot Fine’s sons Jeffrey and Steven Fine, have also pleaded guilty to felony charges and await sentencing, Collier said. They are expected to receive lighter sentences than Glickman.

Glickman is not related to well-known Valley real estate broker Mike Glickman.

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Times staff writer Karen Robinson-Jacobs contributed to this story.