Goodman & Nekvasil P.A., May Recover Investor Losses | Paul Anthony Steffany (Paul Steffany), Financial Advisor Barred from Securities Industry
From 2007 until Paul Steffany’s discharge in 2014, Paul Steffany was licensed with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Paul Steffany was subsequently licensed with Moors & Cabot, Inc. According to FINRA’s records, Paul Steffany was discharged from Raymond James & Associates, Inc. on May 23, 2014. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. reported to FINRA that Paul Steffany was accused of violating company policy, admitting to improper endorsements of checks.
Subsequent to Paul Steffany’s firing by Raymond James & Associates, Inc., FINRA investigated Paul Steffany and brought a disciplinary action against Paul Steffany. Paul Steffany was barred from the securities and investment banking industry on October 8, 2015. FINRA reports that Paul Steffany consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that Paul Steffany converted funds belonging to Paul Steffany’s member firm’s customer, an estate with a testamentary trust for which Paul Steffany served as the trustee, by taking from the estate at least $112,742 purportedly as compensation for serving as the trustee.
The findings stated that Paul Steffany converted the funds by paying Paul Steffany trustee fees that were excessive and inconsistent with the limited nature of his duties as trustee. According to FINRA, the trust was established for the benefit of the son and grandchildren of the decedent. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany kept no records of the time Paul Steffany spent on trust-related matters or the tasks Paul Steffany performed as trustee but estimated that Paul Steffany spent no more than approximately forty-three hours per year on trust-related matters. According to FINRA, the document governing the trust was silent on the amount of compensation to be paid to the trustee. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany paid himself trustee fees by transferring funds from the estate’s brokerage account at the firm into a bank account held by the estate outside of the firm. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany arranged for the estate’s bank account statements to be sent to his home address. In doing so, according to FINRA, Paul Steffany concealed Paul Steffany’s misconduct from the firm. According to FINRA, although Paul Steffany refunded approximately $112,742 to the estate and resigned as trustee, Paul Steffany did not do so until after the firm commenced an investigation into his administration of the trust. The findings also stated that Paul Steffany forged the signature of a co-executor on checks made payable to the estate. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany deposited the checks into the estate’s bank account held outside of the firm and subsequently used certain of these funds for his personal use. Specifically, according to FINRA, Paul Steffany arranged for checks made payable to the estate to be issued from the estate’s brokerage account at the firm. According to FINRA, the checks, which totaled $247,000, were made payable to the estate in the name of Paul Steffany, who was an executor of the estate, and the co-executor. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany endorsed twelve of these checks, totaling $170,000, by signing his own name and forging the signature of his co-executor. According to FINRA, Paul Steffany endorsed the remaining checks “for deposit only.”
If you lost any money on investments with Paul Steffany, you may be able to recover your losses from Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and/or Moors & Cabot, Inc. This is because Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Moors & Cabot, Inc had a duty to supervise Paul Steffany.
If you lost money on investments with Paul Steffany and believe the investments may have been unsuitable or otherwise improper for you, we would like to discuss the possibility of your retaining our firm to represent you in an arbitration action against Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and/or Moors & Cabot, Inc. concerning Paul Steffany’s conduct. There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has recovered more than $170 million on behalf of victimized investors. If you lost money on investments with Paul Steffany and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.