Four of Lancaster County businessman Daryl Heller’s partners in his ATM investment network are named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed [represented by Peiffer Wolf Partners Dan Centner and Jason Kane, Scott Silver, Esq., Peter Spett and Ryan Schwamm of Silver Law Group, and Nico Banks of Banks Law Office] Wednesday on behalf of 2,700 investors.

Batman Investments LLC claims in the suit that the men — Jerry Hostetter, Randall Leaman, Dave Zook and Mir Jafer Ali “Buck” Joffrey – helped carry out a $700 million Ponzi scheme by using cash infusions from new investors to pay previous investors.

While Heller is not named as a defendant, the suit said Paramount Management Group, which managed the ATMs, and the Prestige Funds that recruited investors “were riddled with conflicts of interest stemming from common ownership and control by Defendants and by non-party Daryl Heller, who collectively grossly mismanaged the Prestige Funds and misappropriated investor monies for themselves.”

Here’s what we know about the four investment managers named in the suit.

Jerry Hostetter

Jerry Hostetter partnered with Daryl Heller in 2011 to form Prestige Investment Group, a company that solicited investments in ATMs managed by Heller’s Paramount Management Group.

Previously, Hostetter was the founder and owner of Hostetter Management Co., a Lititz area hog management business he began in 1991 and then sold in 2004 to Hatfield Quality Meats. From 2008 until 2011, Hostetter was vice president of fund development at Ephrata Community Hospital.

An avid golfer, Hostetter was instrumental in bringing the U.S. Women’s Open to Lancaster County Club, where it held its championship in 2015 and 2024. Hostetter was the general chairman for both events.

Hostetter, who lives in Manheim Township, graduated from Lancaster Mennonite High School in 1979, the same year as William K. Poole, another fund manager. Poole was an usher at Hostetter’s wedding in 1981 and Hostetter was the best man at Poole’s wedding in 1982. Heller is also a graduate of Lancaster Mennonite High School, class of 1988.

Randall Leaman

Leaman served as Paramount Management Group’s chief executive officer from 2022 to 2024, and as president for 11 years before that.

A Millersville University graduate whose LinkedIn profile includes note of MBA courses at Lebanon Valley College, Leaman previously worked as a partner and chief financial officer at Tonya’s Gluten Free Kitchen in Newmanstown from 2010 to 2022. Leaman majored in English and journalism while at Millersville.

Before that, he was CFO and vice president of finance at LamTech Inc. in Ephrata and had served as vice president of operations for Jemcor, the then-parent company of LamTech, Marblux and Jemson Cabinetry. Jemson, at the time, was the county’s largest full-service kitchen and bath distributor, and Leaman served as general manager before his promotion to vice president.

Leaman was working closely with Heller up until the end of 2024, according to exhibits in filings submitted in the bankruptcy litigation.

Dave Zook

Dave Zook was born in an Old Order Amish family near Atglen. In 2000, Zook became a partner in Stoltzfus Structures, his family’s shed building business. In addition to helping run the family business, Zook began investing in real estate by pooling money from investors.

In 2012, Zook made an ATM investment with Heller and soon became a chief syndicator for the ATM business, recruiting investors to contribute money.

In 2015, Zook founded Real Asset Investor, which promoted the ATM investment along with investments in real estate, car washes and self-storage facilities. Zook lives near Atglen.

Buck Joffrey

Buck Joffrey is a former surgeon who in 2008 completed a residency in plastic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. After working in medicine, Joffrey began investing in real estate as a syndicator. He began investing in ATMs with Daryl Heller around 2021.

Joffrey, who lives in Santa Barbara, California, hosts the weekly “Wealth Formula Podcast,” which he began in 2013. He is the author of the book, “7 Secrets of Eternal Wealth,” and is a frequent speaker and commentator on finances and investing.

Source: Lancaster Online August 28 2025