DECATUR - William Huber, the man accused of ripping off well-to-do clients with a $17 million Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi investment scheme, has now sent out a letter to friends asking them to contribute to his legal defense fund.

Huber, who the Securities and Exchange Commission said serially defrauded people who had trusted him as a friend, laments that his assets have been frozen and the retainer he had given to his attorneys already has been eaten up by legal bills.

"The thought of a public defender is not attractive," he writes in the letter, a copy of which was supplied to the Herald & Review. "The thought of asking friends for financial assistance is also not attractive. I am in the very unpleasant ‘between a rock and a hard place' position."

Huber goes on to mention that he knows "economic times are very difficult," but he was running out of choices. "I am writing to ask you to consider making a contribution in the form of a loan to my defense fund. Your contribution would be made payable to and sent directly to my law firm for benefit of a trust account to be used solely for Huber legal defense fees."

Huber assures his friends that any unused amounts left over in the trust fund would be returned. But he adds: "The timing of the loan's repayment is unknown and repayment cannot be guaranteed."

For former friends who had also been investment clients, the letter has left them doubting Huber's sanity. "I think he's delusional," said one 55-year-old Decatur investor who gave her name to the Herald & Review but asked for her identity to not be revealed. The woman and her husband suffered a seven-figure loss with Huber.

"So isn't it just a shame what's happened to him?" she added. "But maybe he is trying to set himself up for an insanity plea. And if you've read anything about Ponzi frauds, the people who do them always describe themselves as victims. It seems to be classic behavior for those whose moral compass points due south."

Huber, 60, a former Wagner Castings Co. executive who launched his own stock trading empire with offices in Forsyth, lured in clients with claims of magnificent investment returns. He claimed to have funds with assets topping $40 million as he lived a jet-set lifestyle on the country club circuit with homes in Florida and California.

But all that ended in late September when the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down his firm, Hubadex, and accused him of defrauding investors. "In reality, he managed just $3 million in investor assets," the SEC said. "He frequently lost money on his trading and misappropriated investor funds to pay for his lavishly bicoastal lifestyle."

Given the size now of the legal nightmare that engulfs him, it's perhaps not surprising that Huber is running out of money. All his assets have been frozen, and U.S. District Court Judge Ruben Castillo has appointed a receiver to hunt down all money and everything of value owned by Huber and his wife, Ruthann, who has been named as a "relief defendant," accused of profiting from her husband's "ill-gotten gains," according to the SEC.

In other documents obtained by the Herald & Review, the Chicago-based-receiver, Kevin B. Duff, said he's found $2,946,264, the cash now transferred to "receivership accounts under my control." He said the hunt was continuing with a look for offshore accounts and plans to sell houses in Naples, Fla., and La Jolla, Calif., although both properties are "encumbered with debt." Huber was even in the midst of a remodel on the California property when his assets were frozen.

And Duff said he will continue payments on various Huber life insurance policies "that may have value" while he consults about what's best to do with them.

Huber's attorney, James B. Koch of the Chicago firm Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona, said his client has been cooperating fully with the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Service inspectors, Securities and Exchange Commission, FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, all of which are involved in the case.

Koch said he was aware of his client's appeal for funds and, asked if Huber was in danger of losing his legal services, said: "Oh, I don't know, I guess I will have to talk to him," Koch said. "But right now, he is busy cooperating with law enforcement and every agency, civil and criminal."

He confirmed that he still was Huber's attorney as of Thursday and wouldn't discuss whether all his bills were getting paid. "Well, that's a private matter, isn't it?" he said.

The Herald & Review has learned Huber's victims recently got another letter, this time from the U.S. Department of Justice, advising them their names had been referred to the FBI's Victim Assistance Program. They were told of their rights under law and given access codes so they can log on to government Web sites to track the progress of the case as the FBI investigation continues.

"The case is currently under investigation. This can be a lengthy process and we request your continued patience while we conduct a thorough investigation," the letter added.

Huber's rambling letter makes no mention of the FBI and occasionally refers to himself in the third person, with phrases like "the named defendants." He goes on to say he knows he is "the subject of considerable conversation" at Quail Creek (a country club in Naples) and hints there's another side that's not been told yet.

"I have a story to tell you some day," he writes. "However, on advice of counsel, I cannot talk about the details of my case at this time except I am fully cooperating in an investigation originated by the SEC."

The letter contains frequent golf references and said Huber misses Naples and Quail Creek "but it looks like it will be a while before I am able to spend four hours of agony on the links with you."

He concludes by mentioning a "good neighbor" who wrote him an encouraging e-mail and includes this quote from it in capital letters: "‘No one can go back and make a brand new start but anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.' "

"I am committed to doing everything I can to make that new ending happen and be able to tee it up with you again some day.

"Best regards and hit 'em straight, Hub."

treid@herald-review.com|421-7977