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Register Citizen Staff
LITCHFIELD - A former Torrington attorney accused of taking more than $4 million of his elderly client's stocks and bonds may be ordered to turn over a list of his assets by a Litchfield Superior Court Judge.
Patrick Power, attorney for Jane Wiederhold of Barkhamsted, filed a court motion requesting the court order Peter Sivaslian to disclose his property and debts.
The court approved a request in December to garnish Sivaslian's 22 bank and investment accounts and home on 81 Wind Tree Road in Torrington, but Power said the attorney's former assets would not be enough to pay back what was taken from the Wiederhold estate.
Sivaslian represented Wiederhold's husband, John, before his death and allegedly persuaded him to tear up his will for his $11 million estate prepared by another attorney, Power claims in court documents. John Wiederhold died before signing a new will in 1998, leaving everything to his wife who was not capable to understand financial matters, according to the documents.
Sivaslian was appointed as Jane Wiederhold's conservator until December 2003. Power claims that he during that time used Wiederhold funds to purchase bearer bonds ranging in value from $40,000 to $60,000. The bonds totaling $1.8 million were reportedly delivered to Sivaslian's home.
Sivaslian allegedly transferred $2 million in Pfizer, IBM and Brown Forman Corp. stocks from Wiederhold's investment accounts into his own Fleet bank account in 1999, according to court records.
Sivaslian's wife, Lillian, was also implicated in Power's lawsuit because she allegedly received 14,000 shares of Wiederhold's Pfizer stocks worth $462,420 at the time of transfer, Power claims.
Sivaslian's attorney John Laudati said he didn't want to comment on the case while it is pending in the Litchfield Court.
Power and Wiederhold's attorney in the New Hartford Probate Court, Ellen C. Marino, said in court documents they believe Sivaslian is concealing his assets.
Marino said in her affidavit to the court that she witnessed Sivaslian lie to the probate judge on Sept. 22, 2005, when he said he delivered the $1.8 million in bearer bonds to Jane Wiederhold's home and he had no knowledge of what she did with them. Sivaslian's attorney represented the defendant may have kept at least $400,000 for his own use, but within a few hours state police conducted a search of the Sivaslian home and discovered more than twice the amount of bearer bonds.
Sivaslian claimed at the time there was conflict amongst the heirs and Wiederhold wanted the bonds transferred to a different family member without anyone knowing and he was complying with her wishes, according to court documents.
Power hopes the court, after reviewing the Sivaslian family assets, will approve his requests for a pre-judgment remedy for $4 million and $5 million. He is also seeking missed profits from any stock splits or dividend reinvestments, as well as all dividends and proceeds Wiederhold would have collected if the stocks were not transferred.
Tracy Kennedy can be reached by e-mail at courts@registercitizen.com.
