Sisters Karen Schiendelman and Anne Bortner stand outside Schiendelman’s Sicklerville, N.J. neighborhood on Friday, May 10, 2024. The two sister were investors with Joe Pezzano, a Collegeville, Pa., accountant who died last Christmas. They gave him the money they inherited from their parents. Now, they are among those who are trying to locate millions of dollars. Their brother, a retired PECO worker, had rolled his whole pension into the fund.Anne Bortner had been thinking about retiring.
Two weeks later, an office manager at Bond, Pezzano & Etze sent a follow-up email, stating that the firm “could not answer any questions” about investments with Pezzano. A third email in February referred questions to a lawyer representing Pezzano’s estate. Adkins said he and his wife have been unable to locate about $850,000 that they had invested with Pezzano. The couple were under the impression their money was going into IRAs.
“A lot of money was going in, in lump sums,” said McKeever, who handled customer service and marketing for Pezzano.