A Finra arbitration panel has awarded a Mega Millions lottery winner and a retired NFL player a total of $4.2 million to satisfy claims against Morgan Stanley that it failed to supervise one of its brokers who invested their money in a Miami Beach night club.
The lottery winner, James Groves, was awarded $3.3 million, and Asante Samuel, who retired in 2013 after an 11-year career with the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons, will receive $879,000.
The arbitration panel from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., which released the award on Wednesday, met over six days in October and November. The panel found Morgan Stanley liable for negligence and negligent supervision, among other charges.
According to plaintiffs' lawyers, Morgan Stanley broker Aaron Parthemer invested their clients' funds in Club Play, a hiphop night club in Miami Beach. Mr. Parthemer represented to the public that he was the owner of the club while he was running it on a day-today basis until it failed, according to a press release issued by plaintiffs' lawyers.
Mr. Parthemer could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
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"The main point of the case was that Morgan Stanley knew he was down there running the club, and management did nothing about it because he was a big producer," said Curtis Carlson of Carlson & Associates, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, in the release.
Mr. Parthemer, who had a 20-year career in the securities business before he was barred by Finra in 2015, worked for Morgan Stanley from 2009 to 2011 and for Wells Fargo Advisors from 2011 to 2015.
Wells Fargo was named as a defendant in the arbitration claim, but settled with Mr. Groves in April 2017. Mr. Samuel dropped his claim against Wells Fargo in November 2017.
Susan Siering, a spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley, declined to comment.
