By SUE REID

On a serene 8-acre stretch tucked amidst a quiet residential pocket on Cannon Road just minutes from the industrial area and busy Route 422 freeway, horses graze peacefully

during a recent crisp winter afternoon. Nearby, Solon resident Sue Winters keeps

a watchful, loving eye, gently calling each by name, as if they were her own. The one wearing a blanket is Bruiser, she said, and the others are Flip and Honey.

The horses are among the more than 20 that she boards at her Winters Edge Farm, the city’s

Solon Volume 37 / Number 26

T i m e S

Classifieds, CL1-8editorial, A8eduCation, B9obituaries, B14religion, B15sports, C1-7

ins ide

January 14, 2016 · 75¢

Where city meets countryHorse farm is last boarding stable in Solon Turn to Horse on Page 12

ODOT kicks in funds for Cochran Road upgrade By SUE REID

The Ohio Depar tment of Transportation will be kicking in $100,000 toward the more than $3 million reconstruction of Cochran Road in Solon.

Assistant City Engineer Keri J. Welch reported to the City Council Public Works Committee last week that the grant has been awarded to Solon as part of ODOT’s Jobs and Commerce Economic Development Program.

The project will be done in two phases, with the first phase planned for this summer.

The funding for this grant will

be a reimbursement after the initial phase is complete.

The Cochran Road project is fit for funding, ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said, because the Division of Jobs and Commerce “is dedicated to helping Ohioans go to work by providing transportation infrastructure assistance.”

This assistance is aimed at busi-nesses as well as the trucks that travel the corridor for the 2,000 employees in that area.

Cochran Road is considered the core of Solon’s industrial district.

The grant has paid out nearly Turn to Upgrade on Page 5 Turn to Fraud on Page 11

“Sue treats each of the horses as if they were her own. If one comes in thin or has any problems, she works as hard as she can to get them stable.” — Tess McCarihan, Solon resident

Solon finance adviser indicted in $15 million fraud scheme By SUE REID

The gig is up for Solon investment professional Larry Werbel.

The 67-year-old man, who has served in the financial services indus-try for more than four decades, stepped out of his home on Penfield Lane in the Chagrin Highlands subdivision on Jan. 6 and was met by agents from Cleveland FBI’s white collar squad, according to reports.

He cooperated with authorities, Cleveland FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said Tuesday.

Mr. Werbel is being accused of

defrauding at least 100 investors of more than $15 million and is among four other investment profes-sionals facing indictment in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.

Mr. Werbel made an initial appearance in Cleveland Federal Court last week and his bond was set at $100,000.

He currently is free on bond, his attorney Scott Matasar, of Matasar Jacobs LLC in Cleveland, said Tuesday.

His client was scheduled to

Werbel

Rotary awards Group honors detective and firefighter in annual presen-tation. A2

Firefighters Medical calls increase and fire inci-dents decrease in city. A4

Recycling City saves thousands with automated pickup. A5

Clothing pickup Solon to consider curbside textile recycling. A6

Bainbridge With growing commercial district, study says full-time fire staff needed. A6

Recalling Kenley Resident talks about work-ing in famous summer stock theater. A7

Military family Chil-dren continue Navy tradi-tion. A14

Orange Red, the Steak-house moving from Beach-wood to Pinecrest. A15

Features

Story of hope Immi-grant says hard work made this the land of opportunity for his family. B1

Sports

Basketball Comets have big win over Euclid. C4

Swimming Solon takes to lanes in conference championship. C6

Photo by Philip Botta

Sue Winters of Winters Edge Farm has a quiet moment with Flip, one of the 30 horses at her stable adjacent to the Cleveland Metroparks. On the edge of the industrial area, residential houses and highway, the farm is the only boarding stable in Solon.

January 14, 2016, The Times A11

appear Wednesday (Jan. 13) in Manhattan Federal Court in New York City. Mr. Werbel was to be accompanied by Mr. Matasar’s co-counsel, Richard Blake, of the McDonalds Hopkins law firm in Cleveland.

Mr. Werbel, founder of Evolution Partners Wealth Management based on Chagrin Road in Bainbridge, has been charged with securities fraud and is accused of receiving kickbacks as part of a multi-million dollar scheme of mis-leading representations and stock manipulation led by Wall Street fraudster Edward Durante.

In the 11-count indictment entitled the United States of America versus Edward Durante, Christopher Cervino, Mr. Werbel and Sheik F. Khan, Mr. Werbel faces charges involving securities fraud, money laundering, investment adviser fraud and making false statements to federal officers, among others.

If convicted, Mr. Werbel, whose focus for Cleveland’s East Side investors included estate planning and wealth preservation, faces jail time. Three of the counts he faces each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charges also carry a maximum fine of $5 million, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

“My client vigorously disputes the accuracy of the allegations against him and looks forward to defending himself in court,” Mr. Matasar said Tuesday. His firm specializes in securities litigation and regulatory work on behalf of broker dealer firms and financial advisers.

Along with the other defendants, Mr. Werbel is accused of perpetrating a multi-pronged scheme defrauding more than 100 investors by soliciting funds in public and private shares of various securities, and failing to invest those funds as promised.

Of the approximate $15 million invested in the fraudulent scheme, more than $9 million was funneled to the defendants and other co-conspirators, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Officer Southern District of New York.

The charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Environment Task Force, established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney General.

“The FBI is committed to investigating and bringing to justice those who prey upon trusting individuals for their own personal gain,” FBI Assistant Director Diego Rodriguez said in a written statement.

“He got involved with a Wall Street villain, and it’s all a big fraud,” Cleveland investment rights attorney John Chapman said Monday of Mr. Werbel’s involvement with Mr. Durante.

Mr. Chapman is representing two Cleveland families who invested more than $750,000 in Mr. Werbel’s penny-stock scheme.

“My job is to put money back into the pockets of investors, “ Mr. Chapman said.

Mr. Werbel has been a stockbroker and

investment adviser in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland for many years, Mr. Chapman continued, and got involved in a “pump and dump” scheme about eight years ago. Mr. Chapman likened the scheme to those portrayed in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

“You take some rinky dink name, a shell company, and you manipulate it in various ways to create the idea that it is much more valuable than it is,” he continued of the scheme perpetrated by Mr. Werbel and the defendants.

Mr. Chapman said Mr. Werbel was caught by a former employer with the initial scheme, and investigated by regulators, punished and expelled from the security industry several years ago.

“This is not Werbel’s first rodeo,” Mr. Chapman said.

Even after this initial incident, clients continued to trust Mr. Werbel, a scenario Mr. Chapman said he sees often.

“He (Mr. Werbel) has longstanding relation-ships with people,” Mr. Chapman said. “One of the problems I see as an investment rights attorney is that people sometimes go with their gut and trust people because of their instincts.” Or, the investor seems to be “prestigious and trustworthy.

“In his case, Mr. Werbel was working with a national broker dealer firm, which gave him credibility, even after his suspension,” Mr. Chapman said. “It happens all the time.” Like a doctor, people place trust in investors.

“My clients, like a lot of folks, are not

sophisticated in investments and want to trust people,” Mr. Chapman added.

According to his website, Larrywerbel.com, Mr. Werbel garnered placement among the Five Star Wealth Managers in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area in 2013 and 2014. It also states he established the Brian Werbel Memorial Fund in 2007, which supports cancer research at University Hospitals of Cleveland.

It further states that his hobbies include golfing at the Barrington Golf Club and skiing around the country.

Mr. Chapman said of Mr. Werbel’s relationship with Mr. Durante, that Mr. Durante is the “worst of the worst,” having been imprisoned in the past for securities fraud and a series of related crimes. He recruited local “distributors,” one of whom was Mr. Werbel, Mr. Chapman said.

Mr. Chapman said he has been investigating this situation for about 15 months. “We know there are other folks out there” who have been bilked.

Mr. Chapman, on behalf of his Cleveland cli-ents, filed a complaint to the Industry Arbitration Form and a hearing is set for February.

“It’s been very tough for them,” Mr. Chapman said of his clients.

He is also focusing on the Wall Street firms that Mr. Werbel was affiliated with, he said.

“The question is, ‘were they minding the store?’ “Were they paying attention to what was

going on and supervising the activities of Larry Werbel?”

Fraud continued from Page 1

Sports, band to count as gym credits for graduation in OrangeBy RYAN DENTSCHEFF

PEPPER PIKE — Students at Orange High School who participate in sports, marching band and cheerleading will no longer be required to take physical education to graduate.

The Orange Board of Education Monday unanimously approved a new policy giving these students the ability to waive PE class. Not being required to take physical education will give students the opportunity to take other academic classes.

Four years ago, the board implemented the waiver option, but eliminated it the following year. High School Principal Paul Lucas said while the drop in enrollment in physical education was noticeable, there wasn’t a significant impact overall when the waiver was in place. Ultimately, he said he is in favor with the board’s decision Monday.

“Giving parents and the kids the option I think is the best,” Dr. Lucas said. “I think it’s worth trying it and let’s see what the affect is.”

The physical education at Orange is not like

traditional programs, Superintendent Edwin Holland said. It’s built of the concept of wellness.

Jeff Leikin, who was elected by the board to serve as its president, said while he supports the waiver option, it’s important for the physical education program to continue in the direction it has gone over in recent years.

“Our current physical education program has made a concerted effort to relay fitness to our kids,” he said, the very reason it must continue. “I think it’s a great message and I don’t think it should not be abandoned just

because this policy has been changed.”Board Vice President Melanie Weltman

agreed, saying that she doesn’t want the action by the board to be seen by residents as not recognizing the value of physical education.

“It’s a different experience in a PE class than when you do a sport or activity so I hope we somehow maintain a significant commitment to” the physical education program so it is an “experience that (students) can’t take with them after they move on.”

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