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Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Jeffrey Palish, 65, of Woodcliff Lake, was arrested on a charge of theft by deception.
In November 2017, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office received information that Palish, a Bergen County based financial advisor, had failed to make payments on a $100,000 loan that he had received from two elderly clients; a loan which he had failed to disclose to the financial institution at which he was employed, Calo said in a statement.
An investigation revealed that, during a four-year period, Palish had received in excess of $600,000 from the clients; The funds were obtained through the conversion of the clients’ stock holdings, Calo said. The stocks were sold and the monies were transferred to a second bank where the monies were remitted to Palish through checks written by one of the clients, Calo said.
Further investigation revealed that, during the same time period, Palish initiated about 40 unauthorized wire transfers from the clients’ bank account to make payments to his personal credit card account, Calo said. The unauthorized credit card payments totaled in excess of $300,000, Calo said.
As a result of the investigation, it was determined that Palish utilized all of the monies for his own personal benefit and has not repaid or returned any monies to the victims, Calo said. As a result of the investigation, Palish was arrested on Feb. 21 in Paramus, and charged with one count of theft by deception, with the amount involved being greater than $75,000, a crime of the second degree. Palish is scheduled for a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, on Wednesday, March 7, at 9 a.m.
Calo states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
–Staff report