Nancy alleged that Russel R. Wasendorf Sr. married her at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas on June 30 on false pretenses as he “did not advise of the fraud or the suicide.” Nancy Paladino, 48, filed her complaint for annulment on August 13, one month after Wasendorf was arrested by federal investigators.
Earlier this month, Wasendorf was indicted by a federal grand jury on 31 counts of overstating the amount of customer funds in forged monthly and yearly reports made to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. According to the CFTC, Wasendorf misappropriated more than $200 million in customer funds for over 20 years. He is currently held in the Linn County Jail under suicide watch.
Friends and family of Wasendorf were surprised by the news of the Las Vegas wedding as a church wedding was already planned in Cedar Falls – weeks before which Wasndorf tried to commit suicide.
Wasendorf, if convicted of all charges, faces up to 155 years in jail and 93 years of supervised release following imprisonment – too long a time for anyone to wait around for him.
Paladino’s petition for annulment mentioned that the marriage should be declared null and void as Wasendorf obtained her consent under fraudulent means. Her filing mentioned “At the time of the marriage, Defendant knew he was about to be caught and arrested for fraudulent activity, and had planned suicide to avoid the consequences.”
The bankruptcy court-appointed receiver for Wasendorf is trying to negotiate with Paladino’s attorney over assets held in bank accounts in the joint names of Paladino and Wassendorf. Paladino has stated to the court that she has no monthly income.