Probe: Parente acted alone in Ponzi scheme

An FBI probe has concluded that William Parente acted alone in carrying out a $35-million Ponzi scheme that fell apart shortly before he killed his wife, two daughters and himself in 2009, an official with knowledge of the investigation said.

For about 20 years, Parente, a Garden City estate and tax attorney, told dozens of investors that he put together high-interest loans for construction projects, according to investors and the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. And for years, investors got returns of 12 percent to 15 percent in quarterly checks, investors say.

In the days before his death on April 20, 2009, Parente had begun stalling on payments and told some investors he had received threats on his life. It led some to believe that Parente had help in carrying out the scheme.

But FBI investigators found no evidence of any accomplice, the official said. When he died, Parente had less than $5,000 in the bank.

Baltimore-area authorities say Parente, 59, killed his wife, Betty, 58, and their two children, Stephanie, 19, and Catherine, 11, during a visit to the older daughter at Loyola University in Baltimore. Parente laid their bodies together on a hotel room bed and then stabbed himself in the neck with a knife and bled to death, authorities said.

The conclusion of the FBI probe means Parente's investors probably will not find new sources from which they can recoup their principal contributions. A court settlement recently awarded Parente's $5-million life insurance policy to his investors, while giving Betty Parente's family the proceeds from sale of the family's real estate and assets.