William Parente was a successful Manhattan lawyer who apparently had a side business lending money at high interest rates -- deals that may have cost investors as much as $20 million.
The revelations about his financial dealings came not long after the 59-year-old tax lawyer fatally beat and asphyxiated his family last weekend in a Baltimore hotel room, then took his own life, leaving few clues behind.
The bodies of William Parente, his wife, Betty Parente, 58, and their daughters, 19-year-old Stephanie and 11-year-old Catherine, were discovered Monday in a hotel north of Baltimore. The couple and their younger daughter were in Maryland to visit Stephanie, a sophomore at Loyola College in Baltimore.
The FBI and New York attorney general are looking into allegations that Parente was in a financial bind and may have owed millions to investors who are only now beginning to suspect they were scammed.
Some Greenwich Residents Wonder If Queens lawyer Bruce Montague's Hands Were 100% Clean In The Matter. Just How Much Did Montague Know Of Te Fraud And Why Didn't He Contact Authorities?
Queens lawyer Bruce Montague, 47, learned Tuesday that two of six checks he recently received from Parente had bounced. The losses from the two checks totaled $245,000. A short time later, Montague began hearing media reports about the deaths of Parente and his family, and he contacted authorities.
Montague declined media interviews, but another law partner, Craig Gardy, said the publicity has prompted several telephone calls to his office from others who suspect they may have been scammed. Drelich said three people quickly came forward saying they lost at least $4 million.
Everyone that calls knows at least another person involved. It's going to keep growing
William Parente's family lived in Garden City, a New York City suburb on Long Island, in a million-dollar house across from a golf course. The family attended St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Garden City, where the funeral will be held Tuesday. Sixth-graders from Garden City Middle School, where Catherine attended, held a candlelight vigil outside the home on Wednesday night following a memorial Mass
More On The Local Side Of This Story As It Unfolds.......
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