SENECA — Investors who lost large amounts of money — perhaps as much as $4 million total — are eager to see what happens when Bounty Land Finance owner James T. Orr is scheduled to make a court appearance in his securities fraud case later this month.

Just as in the case with Bernard Madoff, who was sentenced recently to 150 years in prison for masterminding a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, investors with the failed consumer-loans company in Seneca want to look Orr in the eye. They said Orr was telling them to invest with him because the company was in great shape. In reality, he was using the money of new investors to pay off old investors, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

“Investors are mad, they want justice,” said Roger Gibson, of Salem, on Friday. “I want to look him in the eye.”

Michael Abercrombie of Seneca said he’s just as eager to be in court when the case comes up. Abercrombie invested $60,000 in the company and for 20 years he said he received close to $400 every month like clockwork.

The last time Abercrombie saw Orr in the fall of 2008, he said Orr told him the company was doing great. Not long afterward, he heard the news that Orr had gone missing from his West Union home. That was the first tip that things were not as good as Orr said they were.

While an all-out search for Orr was going on, the Orr family hired a prominent local attorney who successfully petitioned the court to place the Bounty Land Finance business in receivership. The company, it turns out, had $500,000 in assets and a debt of more than $4 million.

Abercrombie is frustrated and angered by the turn of events.

“He stole from me; he lied to me,” Abercrombie said of Orr. “He told me before he disappeared that the company was doing fine.”

After several weeks searching for Orr, relatives notified authorities that he had reappeared. Orr had been hiding at the family’s barn near the residence, reportedly surviving by eating honey.

Orr told Oconee County Sheriff’s investigators that he went into hiding because he was distraught over the failure of his business.

Orr is scheduled to be in court the week of July 27 when criminal cases are heard. Ironically, Orr claims to be indigent and has petitioned the court to have the Public Defender’s Office represent him.

Orr was indicted by the Oconee County grand jury June 8 for one count of securities fraud. If convicted or if he pleads guilty, Orr faces up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.