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Scam Case Figure Denied Bail

ORLANDO-William J. Zylka, the purported owner of locally based Evergreen Security Ltd., a fraud-tainted mortgage securities-backed investment fund, remains in a Manhattan, NY jail. He and two associates are charged with planning and executing the biggest Ponzi scheme in Florida's 182-year history.

By Alex Finkelstein | Updated on June 19, 2001

ORLANDO-A New York State Supreme Court judge is denying bail to William J. Zylka, a New Vernon, NJ entrepreneur accused of masterminding a $214 million investment fund fraud and directly stealing $27.7 million from locally based Evergreen Security Ltd.

Zylka, 65, and Newark, NJ lawyer James P. Conroy, 61, were arrested June 8 and each charged with two counts of grand larceny. Conroy was also charged with stealing $5 million from Evergreen in 1999. He was released on $2.5 million bail. None of the missing money has been recovered.

Conroy resigned from the Manhattan law firm of Windels, Marx, Davies & Ives in April. Evergreen filed for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in January in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Orlando. The firm listed liabilities of $214 million and cash assets of $10 million.

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