April 2021 - Cathy Schottenstein

Behind the scenes: What it was like to work with Bloomberg News

When journalist Tom Schoenberg, a longtime reporter for Bloomberg News, was contacted by a family friend about my grandma’s upcoming trial against her grandsons Evan and Avi and their former employer J.P. Morgan, he reached out to better understand the dynamics of the legal proceedings.

My first call with Tom took place on October 9, 2020, just one week before Nanny’s FINRA trial was set to begin. It was a conference call, with Tom in Washington D.C., me in New Jersey, and Nanny in Florida. My grandma’s devoted live-in aide Dawn Henry also participated on the sidelines as Nanny spoke, occasionally chiming in to remind her of certain key dates and facts.

I didn’t know it then, but that first hour-long conversation with Tom would be the beginning of a five-months-long working relationship with Bloomberg News. It was a rich and eye-opening experience that has made me even more respectful of professional journalism, and particularly of Tom and of Bloomberg News—the outlet’s careful evaluation of all sides, the integrity and fairness in their final reporting, and once the story was out, their astonishing global reach. Read more

Isolation and Loneliness Among Elder Americans Must Be Addressed

0 Comments/by Cathy Schottenstein Pattap

Bette Davis famously said, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.” In fact, she had that phrase embroidered on a pillow. And the actress knew what she was talking about. After a celebrated career and multiple Academy Awards, her later years were marred by illness: recurrent breast cancer and then a stroke that distorted her face. She died, alone and far from home at age 81, alienated from her eldest child.

Compared to the famous actress, my grandmother led a charmed life. Beverley Schottenstein and her husband Alvin raised their four children in the quiet tree-lined suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. Though part of a wealthy and influential family, Beverley always kept a low profile. She never took her good fortune for-granted and worked hard to set an example for others. She was a philanthropist who generously contributed to numerous causes and doted on members of her close-knit family. Read more

At 93, She Waged War on JPMorgan—and Her Own Grandsons

1 Comment/by Cathy Schottenstein Pattap

By Tom Schoenberg – February 17, 2021

Read the article on Bloomberg.com

Click here to listen to the companion
audio file for the Bloomberg article.

Beverley Schottenstein said two grandsons who managed her money at JPMorgan forged documents, ran up commissions with inappropriate trading and made her miss tens of millions of dollars in gains. So she decided to teach them all a lesson.

Beverley Schottenstein with her grandsons Avi, left, and Evan, right, from a family photograph.
Source: Courtesy Beverley Schottenstein

Beverley Schottenstein was 93 years old when she decided to go to war with the biggest bank in the U.S.

It was a June day, and the Atlantic shimmered beyond the balcony of her Florida condominium. Beverley studied an independent review of her accounts as family and lawyers gathered around a table and listened in by phone. The document confirmed her worst fears: Her two financial advisers at JPMorgan Chase & Co., who oversaw more than $80 million for her, had run up big commissions putting her money in risky investments they weren’t telling her about. It was the latest red flag about the bankers. There had been missing account statements. Document shredding. Unexplained credit-card charges.

Although some relatives urged Beverley not to make waves, she was resolute. What the money managers did was wrong, she told the group. They needed to pay, she said. Even though they were her own grandsons.

And pay they did. With the help of her lawyers, Beverley dragged her grandsons and JPMorgan in front of arbitrators from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra. She sought as much as $69 million. After testimony that spread over months and ended in January, the panel issued a swift decision in Beverley’s favor. Read more

Ex-JPMorgan Broker Accused of Bilking Grandma Gets Trading Ban

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By Tom Schoenberg
April 13, 2021, 4:44 PM EDT

Read the article on Bloomberg.com

Evan Schottenstein refused to comply with watchdog probe.

Adviser allegedly ripped off his wealthy grandma for fees.

A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. financial adviser accused of trading his wealthy grandmother’s assets without her knowledge has been barred from working as a broker by the industry’s watchdog, according to information on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s website.

Evan Schottenstein, without admitting or denying the findings, agreed to the sanction after Finra concluded he wasn’t complying with its investigation into whether he committed misconduct while managing about $80 million for Beverley Schottenstein when she was a client of JPMorgan for nearly five years.

He refused to provide on-the-record testimony to Finra investigators, according to an April 7 addition to his broker report.

Schottenstein and his younger brother Avi were dismissed from JPMorgan in 2019 after their grandmother accused them and the bank of putting her money in risky investments without her knowledge so they could charge high fees and commissions. She also said her name had been forged on financial documents. She brought an arbitration case against them seeking as much as $69 million in damages.

At 93, She Waged War on JPMorgan and Her Own Grandsons (and Won)

In February, an arbitration panel ruled in her favor, finding the brothers and the bank’s J.P. Morgan Securities LLC unit liable for abusing their fiduciary duty and making fraudulent misrepresentations. The arbitrators also found the bank and Evan Schottenstein liable for elder abuse. Read more

At 93, She Waged War on JPMorgan—and Her Own Grandsons

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Feb 17, 2021

View the video and article on flipboard.com

Beverley Schottenstein said two grandsons who managed her money at JPMorgan Chase & Co. forged documents, ran up commissions with inappropriate trading and made her miss tens of millions of dollars in gains. So she decided to teach them all a lesson. View this video by clicking the image to the left or the link above.

Schottenstein family dispute erupts in Florida with charges of elder abuse, financial fraud in $80 million estate

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By Jim Weiker – Feb 17 2021

Read on dispatch.com

Beverley Schottenstein isn’t exactly sure when she suspected her grandsons were cheating her.

Perhaps it was when they shredded her bank statements. Or maybe it was when she discovered they had created an email account in her name. Or when she noticed hundreds of thousands of dollars spent from her account.

But by the end of 2018, Schottenstein, a member of one of central Ohio’s most prominent families, was confident something was wrong.

The following year, she made the momentous decision to take action against her own family members, grandsons Evan and Avi Schottenstein, and their employer, JPMorgan Securities, for mishandling an account worth more than $80 million.

“For a long time, I was suspicious and I wasn’t at the same time. I just didn’t want to believe this,” said the 94-year-old widow of Alvin Schottenstein, part of the family that built a central Ohio retail fortune through Schottenstein Stores, Value City Furniture, DSW, Big Lots and American Eagle Outfitters.

“You don’t want to think your own grandkids are going to steal from you, but they were really doing this.” Read more

The Schottenstein Family And Elder Abuse

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By All Sides Staff – Feb 24, 2021

Click here to listen to the Audio Interview on Radio WOSU

A financial industry arbitrator in early February sided with Beverley Schottenstein in an elder abuse case, ordering her two grandsons and JP Morgan Chase to pay her $19 million.

Evan and Avi Schottenstein handled their grandmother’s fortune, valued at more than $80 million, until JP Morgan let them go. Through their attorney, they said they acted in accordance with her wishes.

Guests:

Tom Schoenberg, senior reporter, Bloomberg News
Beverley Schottenstein, of Bal Harbour, Fla.,
Cathy Schottenstein Pattap, author of “Twisted: Conflict, Madness, and the Redemptive Power of a Granddaughter’s Love,” a book about her grandmother’s elder abuse trial, and an English teacher.

Ex-J.P. Morgan Brokers Push for $4-Mln Settlement with Grandmother in Schottenstein Case

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By Jake Martin – July 1, 2021

Two ex-J.P. Morgan Securities brokers claim their grandmother reneged on terms to resolve their high-profile, high-dollar intrafamily dispute and are seeking to enforce a $4 million settlement of the issues they say she wrongfully dragged back to court, according to new filings.

Retail matriarch Beverley B. Schottenstein, 95, earlier this month filed a motion in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida to reopen the case to confirm her $19 million arbitration award, issued in February by three Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panelists against her grandsons and their former employer over alleged unauthorized trading in her account and elder abuse.

Evan A. and Avi E. Schottenstein, who are brothers, previously opposed their grandmother’s petition in court to confirm the award, which had held them jointly liable for $9.8 million of the award total. They sought in March to vacate it before an oral settlement was reached and the case had been administratively closed. Read more

Schottenstein Settlement Talks Fizzle; Grandmother Reopens Case Against Ex-J.P. Morgan Brokers

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By Jake Martin – June 9, 2021

Read the article on advisorhub.com

Beverley B. Schottenstein, 94, of Bal Harbour, Florida, who in February won a Finra arbitration award for $19 million against her grandsons, Evan A. and Avi E. Schottenstein, and their former employer, J.P. Morgan Securities.

Negotiations have broken down to settle a multimillion dollar, intrafamily dispute between retail matriarch Beverley B. Schottenstein and her grandsons, former J.P. Morgan Securities brokers accused of unauthorized trading in her account and elder abuse, according to a court filing.

Attorneys for the nonagenarian petitioner on Tuesday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida seeking to reopen the case to confirm her high-profile $19 million arbitration award, rendered in February by a panel of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitrators against her grandsons, Evan A. and Avi E. Schottenstein, and their former employer.

A written agreement of settlement has failed to materialize despite an oral agreement the Schottensteins had reached in March, according to the filing. Read more

Florida woman, 94, wins $19 million fraud ruling against JP Morgan, grandsons

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Feb. 9, 2021, by Jay Cridlin

Read the full article on tampabay.com

Beverly Schottenstein, part of an Ohio retail dynasty, had alleged her grandsons had improperly managed her money.

A financial arbitration group has awarded nearly $19 million to a 94-year-old Bal Harbour woman who claimed her two grandsons, then brokers at JP Morgan Securities, mishandled her money by forging her signature and making unauthorized purchases.

Beverly Schottenstein, whose family fortune came from a string of retail chains, including DSW, American Eagle Outfitters and American Signature Furniture, filed the complaint through the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency, or FINRA, a non-governmental organization that enforces rules and settles disputes involving stock broker-dealers. Read more

Archive for month: April, 2021

Beverley Schottenstein said two grandsons who managed her money at JPMorgan forged documents, ran up commissions with inappropriate trading and made her miss tens of millions of dollars in gains. So she decided to teach them all a lesson.

Evan Schottenstein refused to comply with watchdog probe.

Adviser allegedly ripped off his wealthy grandma for fees.

At 93, She Waged War on JPMorgan and Her Own Grandsons (and Won)

Beverly Schottenstein, part of an Ohio retail dynasty, had alleged her grandsons had improperly managed her money.