Judge orders man to serve 10 years in area’s biggest Ponzi scheme

Saying his crimes were about “good old-fashioned greed and lying” that left dozens of victims devastated, a federal judge Wednesday sent Jack Hogan to prison for a decade for pulling the largest Ponzi scheme ever uncovered in Western Pennsylvania.

“Mr. Hogan,” said U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak, “you really cleaned these people out.”

Hogan, 78, former owner of Hogan & Associates, ripped off about 80 investors of $8.2 million.

The judge entered a forfeiture order for that amount but recognized that it’s unlikely the victims will ever see any of it.

Hogan waived indictment in April and pleaded guilty to multiple counts of mail fraud.

He had been in negotiations with prosecutors following an investigation by the FBI and postal inspectors that began in 2016. Confronted by agents, he confessed and spared the government the expense of grand jury proceedings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Melucci said Hogan sold whole life insurance policies to friends and family for many years from his Swissvale office.

But he also held himself out to be a financial planner when he was not one.

From 2002 on, he sold policies at exorbitant prices and encouraged clients to borrow against the accrued value of their