Raven
Thursday, January 17th, 2008, 01:33 AM
Patrice Walsh (Rochester, N.Y.) - Some Xerox and Eastman Kodak retirees claim they are victims of a "get rich retirement scam" that cost them their life savings.
About 100 former workers, all of whom claim they were duped into retiring early, are part of class-action lawsuits filed against two Morgan Stanley brokers.
Many of the retirees have been forced to go back to work because they are broke.
Gerry Miller never thought he'd be hunting for a job at age 64.
"There goes the dream," he said.
Xerox retireees named Morgan Stanley financial planner David Isabella in one lawsuit.
Miller said Isabella convinced him he could make more money if he retired early. He followed that advice. Now, his $300,000 retirement fund is almost gone.
"It’s pretty bad,” Miller said. “I had to sign up for Social Security early just to have money to live on."
A second suit names Michael Kazacos, a financial planner at Morgan Stanley at the time. He worked with Kodak retirees, including Janet Eisenberg, who said she was told she would be a millionaire if she retired early.
Instead, she's broke and is now works full-time to get by.
Attorneys for the retirees claim it was a get-rich scam that targeted blue-collar workers who weren't savvy enough to know they couldn't spend 10 percent retirement money a month and not run out of money.
'They were prey to these people,” said attorney Robert Pearl.
Retirees like Stan Morrill hope to recover the hundreds of thousands they lost, as well as compensation for what they have gone through.
“What do I do now?" Morrill said.
13WHAM tried to contact Isabella, who still works at Morgan Stanley, but he didn't return calls.
Kazacos left the company a year ago.
Federal regulators are also investigating the alleged retirement scam.
Source (http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5cb406e2-22cd-4127-8619-fe2a332bfb31)
About 100 former workers, all of whom claim they were duped into retiring early, are part of class-action lawsuits filed against two Morgan Stanley brokers.
Many of the retirees have been forced to go back to work because they are broke.
Gerry Miller never thought he'd be hunting for a job at age 64.
"There goes the dream," he said.
Xerox retireees named Morgan Stanley financial planner David Isabella in one lawsuit.
Miller said Isabella convinced him he could make more money if he retired early. He followed that advice. Now, his $300,000 retirement fund is almost gone.
"It’s pretty bad,” Miller said. “I had to sign up for Social Security early just to have money to live on."
A second suit names Michael Kazacos, a financial planner at Morgan Stanley at the time. He worked with Kodak retirees, including Janet Eisenberg, who said she was told she would be a millionaire if she retired early.
Instead, she's broke and is now works full-time to get by.
Attorneys for the retirees claim it was a get-rich scam that targeted blue-collar workers who weren't savvy enough to know they couldn't spend 10 percent retirement money a month and not run out of money.
'They were prey to these people,” said attorney Robert Pearl.
Retirees like Stan Morrill hope to recover the hundreds of thousands they lost, as well as compensation for what they have gone through.
“What do I do now?" Morrill said.
13WHAM tried to contact Isabella, who still works at Morgan Stanley, but he didn't return calls.
Kazacos left the company a year ago.
Federal regulators are also investigating the alleged retirement scam.
Source (http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5cb406e2-22cd-4127-8619-fe2a332bfb31)