Coins in banker's Town and Country basement won't cover customers' claims, lawyer says
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/72853C942CEB9E078625752E000BE9DC?OpenDocument
Coins in banker's Town and Country basement won't cover customers' claims,
lawyer says
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/29/2008
Town and Country - When a treasure trove of gold and silver
coins was discovered in investment banker Donald C. Weir
Jr.'s basement in Town and Country in September, there were
hopes that those customers would get all their money back.
But a lawyer for the banker's former employer now says that
only a little over $2 million has been located of the $12
million to $13 million claimed by investors.
Albert Watkins, a lawyer who represents HFI Securities
Inc. of Clayton, said federal investigators are attempting
to return to owners the coins found stacked in Weir's
basement. Coins without identifiable owners will be sold
and the proceeds distributed proportionally to the
remaining clients, he predicted.
"To add insult to injury," Watkins said, investors had
been told that they were earning huge profits on their
investments. "In many people's minds, the amount they've
lost is well more than the amount invested."
They will certainly never see those imaginary profits,
Watkins said.
In account statements supplied by Gerald P. Greiman, a
lawyer for one of the clients suing HFI, an investor
was told that she had earned a total of $11,194 - or
22 percent - on a series of coins she bought in
2004-05. Greiman said his client told him she got only
vague information and limited documentation on a
portfolio of multiple investments that she was told at
one point had grown to $6 million.
Weir's wife discovered the coins in the 1100 block of
Chatsworth Place Drive on Sept. 10. The couple were
separated, and he was living in St. Charles County
at the time.
Watkins said that in some cases, Weir was selling
coins at wholesale that he had bought at retail
prices. "Kind of a little bit counterintuitive to
those in the financial industry," he said.
Weir's former company, HFI, also will suffer. Watkins
said a "host of claims" have been brought by clients,
including a handful of lawsuits, with more expected
to follow.
With those pending investor demands, financial
regulations may require HFI to transfer all investors'
accounts to another broker-dealer, Watkins said.
Weir, a graduate of the John Burroughs School,
Creighton University and Georgetown University's
School of Business, was vice president and a
registered principal of HFI. Watkins said he is
cooperating with law enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Schelp and Weir's
lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, would not comment. No
charges have been filed, but an investigation is
ongoing.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has
investigated and is satisfied that the company did
nothing wrong, Watkins said. Calls to the SEC went
unanswered.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a
nongovernmental securities regulator, is doing a
follow-up investigation, Watkins said. It does not
comment on pending investigations.
Watkins said HFI had never before had any claims
filed against it or any regulatory problems other
than general business litigation.
..
Mike Marotta
wrote:
> FROM:http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/s...
> Watkins said that in some cases, Weir was selling
> coins at wholesale that he had bought at retail
> prices. "Kind of a little bit counterintuitive to
> those in the financial industry," he said.
Your life savings: Negative $8 million
A quotable quote: Priceless
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Quoting others for editors who pay."