WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Bradley Heppner, the

former chair of bankrupt financial services company GWG Holdings

and founder of alternative asset firm Beneficent, was

indicted on five charges including securities fraud and wire

fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday.

The charges stem from allegations that Heppner engaged in a

scheme to steal more than $150 million from the then publicly

traded GWG while serving as its chairman, according to an

indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York where

the charges were filed.

The indictment also alleges that Heppner, 59, was able to do

this by extracting funds from GWG through a "series of

misrepresentations about and self-serving transactions with"

Highland Consolidated, a shell company that the department says

he controlled.

"As alleged, Heppner abused his role as a public company

executive to loot the company and to funnel money into his own

pockets," Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern

District of New York, said in a statement.

Heppner served as chairman of both Beneficient and GWG

Holdings from 2019 to 2021. GWG filed for bankruptcy in 2022

with $2 billion in debt amid an investigation by the Securities

and Exchange Commission into the company's accounting.

A lawyer for Heppner declined to comment. Heppner was also

charged with false statement to auditors and falsification of

records, according to the indictment.

The Justice Department said Heppner used the funds he

received for personal expenses, including to fund his lifestyle

and renovate his Dallas mansion, after taking control of the

company from GWG's shareholders and installing himself as

chairman while appointing friends and associates as executives

and board members.

"Once Heppner exhausted his ability to siphon GWG's assets

for himself, he separated himself from GWG. GWG filed for

bankruptcy shortly thereafter, causing losses exceeding $1

billion to thousands of investors and bondholders," the

indictment read.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)