Radnor Attorney Stole $400K In Settlement Funds: District Attorney

RADNOR, PA – A Radnor attorney is facing felony charges after being accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlement funds from nine clients he represented in injury claims cases, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

Gregory G. Stagliano, 61, of Radnor, is facing 46 felony charges including theft by unlawful taking, theft of services, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property, the DA's office said.

Stagliano was held on 10 percent of $100,000 bail court records show.

He is slated to appear for his preliminary hearing on June 12, according to court records.

Stagliano, who practices law in the Newtown Square area, was charged after an investigation began in July 2016 when information was received from the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that Stagliano, a personal injury attorney, stole settlement money owed to his clients, the DA's office said.

The first incident allegedly occurred in 2016 when Stagliano received two checks totaling $65,000, both which were made payable to Stagliano and a car accident victim he represented, the DA's office said.

The first check was received on November 6, 2016 in the amount of $50,000 from Allstate Insurance and the second check from Nationwide Insurance was dated December 19, 2014 for $15,000, the DA's office said.

The DA's office said both checks were deposited into Stagliano’s Interest on Lawyers TrustAccount (IOLTA) account.

After receiving only $7,500 in partial distribution of the funds, the victim attempted to contact Stagliano more than 30 times in regards to the whereabouts of the money she was owed, according to the DA's office.

The DA's office said eventually Stagliano allegedly told the victim "I wish you to cease your continued harassing communications in this regard and if you do not, we will go about it in a different way."

Stagliano then represented in his fiduciary statement that he owed $40,000 to the victim, the DA's office said. Further investigation of his bank records revealed that the settlement funds had been spent by Stagliano, with an actual balance of only $133.77 in his account, according to the DA's office

As a result of an investigation into the eight other theft cases, all of which show a similar pattern of theft, investigators determined that on nine separate occasions Stagliano deposited funds into his own Santander
Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA), ranging in $3,000 to $50,000, keeping his clients money
for his own personal use, the DA's office said.

Further investigation into bank records show that he allegedly spent the money in the account to pay taxes on properties he owns in Delaware County, according to the DA's office.

The DA's office is urging anyone who believes they have been victimized by Stagliano to contact the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division at (610) 891-8745.

Residents with questions regarding an attorney are encouraged to look up that attorney on the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania website here.

"As prosecutors, we find the violation of his sworn fiduciary responsibly especially disturbing and Mr. Stagliano used this position in order to fund his own lavish lifestyle and pay his own personal debts with his clients’ money," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said in a statement. "Individuals should be able to trust their attorneys and abusing that trust is both unethical and in this case criminal. Today’s arrest of Mr. Stagliano should send a clear message that no one is above the law."

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