Malvern Lawyer Reaches Settlement In Par Funding Case

MALVERN, PA —A Malvern lawyer who provided legal advice to Par Funding investments has agreed to pay $125,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission accusations that he provided wrong information to investors who put millions into the firm, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Friday.

John W. Pauciulo was also barred from arguing before the SEC for at least five years, the Inquirer reported.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Pauciulo was with King of Prussia financial pitchman Dean Vagnozzi as the pair talked up Joseph LaForte’s Par Funding, a lender founded in Philadelphia.

Last year, LaForte and other Par executives agreed to drop their opposition to an SEC lawsuit labeling their business a fraud.

The SEC is seeking $360 million from four Par principals. Vagnozzi has agreed to pay $5 million to resolve SEC complaints against him.

The SEC says more than $500 million of Par’s “unregistered, fraudulent” securities were sold to investors from 2012 until 2020, when the agency won an injunction from a federal judge, shutting down Par, and filed civil fraud charges against its owners and a group of salespeople.