Clients suing Hall, banks in North Carolina

Complaints say KS Bank let Mark Hall deposit checks that weren't his.

Two elderly people are suing former Smithfield investment adviser Mark Hall, seeking to recover the money they claim he stole from them.
In a complaint filed March 16, Verna Mae Hill, 90, of Garner says Hall took $168,176.18 from an annuity account. She names as co-defendants four firms that did business with Hall, including Smithfield-based KS Bank. Hill claims the bank allowed Hall to deposit into his account millions of dollars in checks payable to his clients.
Charles A. Depew, 76, of Wilson filed a similar complaint Friday.
Hall is already facing criminal charges -- 13 counts of embezzlement by an insurance agent and three counts of exploiting the trust of a disabled or elderly person. Prosecutors think Hall took a total of $2.6 million from 13 clients.
But Hill's civil complaint is the first allegation of wrongdoing by the companies involved.
"The common thread in all these 13 victims is that Hall was taking the check to KS Bank, and they weren't paying attention, which is frankly shocking," said Hill and Depew's lawyer, Andy Whiteman. "There wasn't even an effort to forge an endorsement."
Hill's complaint includes copies of deposit slips and notes that Hall was a shareholder in the bank. KS Bank chief executive Harold Keen declined to comment on the complaint, saying he hadn't had time to look at the documents.
Asked about the bank's policy on deposits, Keen said all banks require that checks be made out to the person cashing them.
In addition to KS Bank, Hill is seeking damages from Hartford Life Insurance Co., Cantella & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.
The complaint says the accounts in question were Hartford annuities and that J.P. Morgan Chase is that company's bank. Hall's firm, Market Street Advisors, was an affiliate of Boston-based investment company Cantella.
The complaint says Hall visited Hill at her home during the spring of 2009. He asked her to sign annuity-withdrawal forms, which he told her were needed to "reduce the paperwork she would receive," the complaint says. Hill signed the forms but did not receive the entire document, she says.
The forms directed Hartford to withdraw all $168,176.18 from Hill's account and to send the money to her at Hall's office, according to the complaint.
Spokesmen for Cantella and Hartford said their companies couldn't comment on open litigation. Efforts to reach officials J.P. Morgan Chase were unsuccessful.
Whiteman, the attorney, said he will file additional complaints on behalf of three other clients in the coming weeks. Most will involve the same companies, and all will be filed in Wake County Superior Court, he said.
Hall remains in the Johnston County Jail under $100,000 bond. His court-appointed lawyer, Joy Jones, can legally represent him only on his criminal charges.
"He's not going to have money to retain anybody" in the civil case, Jones said.