By Le Floridien __________________
Another troubling case of betrayal is rocking Haitian communities across New York, Florida, and Georgia. Haitian-American Marc Henry Menard, a Florida resident and former Nassau County local, has been arrested and indicted for allegedly running a three-year investment fraud scheme that prosecutors say stole more than $600,000 from his own countrymen.
According to New York Attorney General Letitia James, Menard targeted members of the Haitian diaspora, convincing them to invest their hard-earned savings by posing as a seasoned and highly successful trader. He allegedly promised astronomical returns of up to 20 percent per month — a lure that resonated within close-knit Haitian communities where personal trust and shared heritage often carry great weight.
Prosecutors say Menard, who was not licensed to sell securities, took in hundreds of thousands of dollars through his company, Marcotech LLC, from Haitians in Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Queens Counties, as well as Florida and Georgia. He reportedly told investors they could earn even higher returns if they recruited friends and family to join, a tactic that deepened the impact of his alleged deception.
The indictment claims Menard deposited a portion of the money into his personal trading accounts and gambled it on high-risk day trading and options trading, losing more than $670,000 between July 2021 and October 2022. Investigators allege he used hundreds of thousands of dollars to repay earlier investors in a Ponzi-like fashion, while also funding a lavish lifestyle that included luxury vacations to Turkey, Puerto Rico, and Disney World, the purchase of a 2021 Mercedes-Benz and a 2022 BMW, and shopping sprees at Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
To keep the illusion alive, Menard allegedly showed investors fake ATM receipts claiming he had more than $8 million in his bank account, and falsified trading screens reflecting over $1 million in assets. In reality, authorities say, his accounts never exceeded a fraction of those amounts — with his trading account peaking at $240,000 and his bank balance topping out at $301,000.
Attorney General James denounced the scheme in strong terms, saying, “Marc Henry Menard took advantage of Haitian New Yorkers, lied to them about his experience as a successful trader, and swindled hard-working people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Menard treated himself to luxury vacations and shopping trips at his victims’ expense, and now we are bringing him to justice.”
Menard, 42, faces a 24-count indictment, including multiple counts of Grand Larceny, Securities Fraud, Falsifying Business Records, and Scheme to Defraud. If convicted of the top charge, he could spend up to 15 years in prison. He was arrested on July 30 in Sunrise, Florida, arraigned in Nassau County, and released under strict condi
tions that include weekly reporting, surrendering his passport, and restrictions on travel between New York and Florida.
This case has sent shockwaves through Haitian communities in the United States, serving as a harsh reminder that fraud does not always come from outsiders. Sometimes, the deception is perpetrated by those who speak the same language, share the same culture, and use those bonds of trust as tools of exploitation.
The Attorney General’s office is urging anyone who may have been a victim of similar scams to call 1-800-771-7755 or file a complaint online. The warning is clear: no matter how familiar the face or how impressive the promise, if an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, it almost always is.
Source: Broward County Mugshots
