Did Hecker raid kids' trust funds?

Denny Hecker raided the trust funds of his children and grandchildren of $75,750 in December as he scrambled for money during his personal bankruptcy, a lawyer who examined the transactions charged Thursday.

Attorney Matthew Burton, writing on behalf of the bankruptcy trustee, told the judge in the case that the money apparently was used by Hecker to repurchase the Medina mansion that he has shared with girlfriend Christi Rowan. Hecker's attorney told the court that the former auto dealer got the money from a friend.

Rowan has now begun to cooperate with the bankruptcy trustee's investigation into allegations that she and Hecker hid assets from the court, according to a source familiar with the matter. She could not be reached for comment.

Burton said he recently learned that Hecker's story about the source of the mansion buy-back funds was a sham.

"It appears that instead, the money was taken from the Hecker children's and grandchildren's trust accounts," Burton said in the letter.

The trusts benefited three minors and one adult child. Their names were redacted in court papers, and it was unclear whether the trusts hold other funds or are now depleted.

Hecker, who filed for bankruptcy last June, was charged this year with 25 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money-laundering and bankruptcy fraud, including schemes in which he allegedly altered or left out key documents to secure large loans. He once owned 26 dealerships.

That same day, Skolnick wrote a check to the bankruptcy trustee for $75,000 for the mansion deal, the letter said. The name of Hecker's friend Ralph Thomas was written on the memo line of the check, the letter said.

Burton said that all parties of the court were led to believe that the check was to be used as a down payment so Thomas could take over Hecker's interest in the Medina home. The bankruptcy trustee transferred its interest in the property to Thomas, and gave the deed to Skolnick, though the house remains in Hecker's name.

The letter to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel said that Thomas has revealed that he lent Hecker $150,000, but that he thought it was for legal fees, not to purchase the mansion on Northridge Drive. Thomas "did not know his name was being used on the ... transaction until he read about it in the papers," the letter said.

Hecker's criminal defense attorney, Bill Mauzy, would not comment, saying he had not seen the letter. Skolnick, Parker and Thomas could not be reached.

Prohofsky, who was put in charge of the trust funds, is the former stepfather of Hecker's fourth wife. Prohofsky committed suicide in his car in a remote Medina parking lot on March 3 and left a note that helped investigators learn where they could find information about Hecker hiding assets.