Raymond James sues to retrieve dead advisor’s laptop

Raymond James is taking the widower of one of its former advisors to court for not returning a company-owned laptop and allegedly soliciting his deceased wife’s clients for another firm.

Raymond James filed a suit against Pietro “Peter” Melia in federal court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday over his failure to return a laptop computer his wife, Sarah Melia, had used while she was an advisor at Raymond James. Sarah Melia died suddenly in March, and Pietro has since refused to return the laptop lent to her by the firm, according to the suit.

Instead, he has sent letters to some of his wife’s former clients, along with other people, asking them to consider moving their wealth management relationship over to Wealthcare Management Services, a firm based in the nearby Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

“While I am not a licensed financial advisor, it is important to me that you continue to receive the same thoughtful guidance and attention that Sarah provided,” Pietro Melia wrote, according to a passage from his letters included in Raymond James’ complaint. “After careful consideration, I would like to introduce you to Wealthcare Management Services, a team that shares Sarah’s values and commitment to client service.”

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‘Providing a testimonial regarding a new firm’

Both Raymond James and Wealthcare Management Services declined to comment on the allegations. Pietro Melia’s lawyer, Daniel Rucker of the Hertz Schram Law Firm, said in an email that his client is holding onto the laptop “while the parties negotiate how to remove any attorney-client privileged and confidential information of his wife’s.”

“Mr. Melia has not had any ability to access the laptop and has never accessed the laptop while it has been in his possession,” Rucker wrote. “Mr. Melia has followed the appropriate regulatory requirements to provide a testimonial regarding a new firm that is assisting him now that his wife has passed and cannot manage his investments.”

Raymond James sent Rucker a cease-and-desist letter, dated Sept. 3, demanding Pietro Melia return the laptop and any other company-owned property and stop reaching out to the firm’s clients. Rucker responded the next day with a denial that Melia had used the Raymond James laptop to assemble a list of his wife’s former clients.

Instead, according to Drucker’s letter, Peter Melia had compiled the information with help from his and his wife’s family, friends and acquaintances, as well as online searches. 

“In addition, following Sarah’s passing, people connected with Mr. Melia online, and various individuals have contacted him since then about personal matters,” Drucker wrote. “Mr. Melia has not used or accessed Sarah’s work laptop to identify any recipients of the letter.”

Drucker noted that the SEC allows wealth management clients to write testimonials endorsing the firms they work with, and said Pietro Melia had followed federal rules when recommending Wealthcare Management Services to his wife’s former clients. Drucker suggested that a third-party firm be brought in to “wipe” the laptop his wife had used before Raymond James is allowed to reclaim it.

Seeking legal immunity

Raymond James says in its suit that its requests for the return of its laptop have been met with demands by Petrio Melia that it sign a “hold harmless” agreement, essentially granting him legal immunity. The firm says he has written letters not only to former clients of his wife but also of her business partner, Christopher Marchand. 

Sarah Melia and Marchand came together in 2022 to form the Melia/Marchand Group of Raymond James near Detroit. The firm had $332 million in assets under management and $2 million in revenue production for the previous year, according to the suit.

When Raymond James sought the return of its laptop following Sarah Melia’s death, it was told by Pietro that the computer might have privileged attorney-client communications on it, according to the suit. Raymond James said it told Pietro Melia that he could have no expectation of privacy with a company-issued device and that it wanted to make sure any confidential client information on the computer remained protected.

Raymond James said it was able to discover through a “remote forensic analysis” that the laptop was powered on between Aug. 8 and 13. Besides writing to his wife and Marchand’s clients, according to the suit, Pietro Melia also sent letters to Marchand’s deceased grandfather, his aunt and to various people the advisors had listed as business contacts but who were not Raymond James customers.

Raymond James said the letters described Wealthcare Management Services and provided contact information for the firm. The firm has an RIA arm called Wealthcare Advisory Partners, which had just over $6 billion in assets under management by July 22, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Raymond James said Pietro Melia stopped responding to its inquiries in August, essentially forcing it to take legal action. The firm is seeking a temporary restraining order requiring him to return the laptop and barring him from reaching out to his wife’s former clients.