NEW YORK (AP)  -- A one-time hotshot manager and investor in the Manhattan real estate market was arrested Wednesday on charges he cheated banks, family members and other victims out of more than $17 million.

Paul Hochfelder was awaiting arraignment Wednesday evening in state Supreme Court on multiples counts of grand larceny, forgery and other charges. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

There was no immediate response to a phone message left with Hochfelder's attorney.

Hochfelder, 37, made his name as a founder and chairman of Max Capital Management Corp., once one of the city's largest landlords of commercial property, including the Helmsley building on Park Avenue. In 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him to the city's Latin Media and Entertainment Commission along with luminaries including actors Antonio Banderas and Jimmy Smits.

Amid mounting financial troubles in recent years, Hochfelder came under investigation after borrowing millions of dollars from two banks, a business partner, his uncle, an in-law and a childhood friend.

Prosecutors allege he secured the loans by forging signatures and claiming he had a stake in property he never owned. They say he used the money on personal expenses and previous debts.

``He was very good at convincing people he was a successful entrepreneur,'' District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Wednesday while announcing the indictment. ``He was very persuasive.''

Morgenthau said Hochfelder could face additional charges stemming from schemes involving other properties including The Sagamore resort, on Lake George in the Adirondacks, and The Westin Aruba Resort, in the Caribbean.