FSCO issues cease and desist against paralegal

Ontario’s insurance regulator has issued an interim cease and desist order against a St. Catherines-based paralegal alleged to have misappropriated client settlement funds.
Calise & Associates Legal Services Inc. and Marcello Calise have been removed from the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s (FSCO) list of authorized representatives for statutory accident benefits claims, according to a FSCO release. Calise and the firm must also inform all clients of the cease and desist order against them.
FSCO alleges Calise “misappropriated a client’s settlement funds and accepted fees under a contingency fee arrangement”, and says there has been no response to repeated FSCO requests for information relating to these allegations. FSCO says, “”this failure to reply to FSCO strikes at the very heart of the regime to effectively ensure confidence in the automobile insurance system and allow FSCO to ensure compliance”.