Police news.
The FBI is investigating a Collegeville accounting firm whose partner died last Christmas because, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, dozens of investors are seeking to recover upwards of $30 million that was managed by him.
According to the report, the FBI is conducting interviews and issuing subpoenas for a case against the late, and well-respected South Philadelphian, Joseph Pezzano, who managed millions of dollars for clients through his accounting firm, Bond, Pezzano & Etze, located on 2nd Avenue in Collegeville, and his investment company, JPA R/E Associates.
The FBI investigation kicked off with a probe by Collegeville Police, as Chief Barton Bucher told The Inquirer that they received reports from Pezzano’s investors about their missing funds, and then turned the case over to the FBI.
Clients invested money – some, as the report said, gave as much as $180,000, while others offered up their pensions – and five months after Pezzano’s death, no one can locate the money, estimated to be between $10 million to $30 million in missing funds.
Per the article, some investors have filed $1 million in court claims each against Pezzano. There are those who believe they may have been scammed in a Ponzi scheme, per the article, and others who hope it is simply a bookkeeping error.
Other investors, per the report, are holding out hope that Pezzano simply failed to plan for the management of clients’ funds after his death.
Things did not sit well with investors, though, when Pezzano’s accounting firm made it known via emails to clients in January that it was not affiliated with Pezzano’s investment company, according to The Inquirer.
Pezzano’s firm is referring all questions to Thomas Boulden, the lawyer representing Pezzano’s estate. Pezzano’s daughter is a partner with her father’s company, according to the article.
Read more on the case here.
