Morgan Stanley is seeking to recoup nearly half a million dollars from the estate of a deceased advisor who shot and wounded his business partner in July at the company’s office in Oklahoma City.
In a petition dated December 12 in the District of Oklahoma County, Morgan Stanley is requesting that the Trust of Leonard Bernstein pay the debt he owes to the bank.
Bernstein died in August at the age of 90, a month after he allegedly shot and wounded his co-worker.
Morgan Stanley said Bernstein borrowed $478,800 while he was employed at the bank. It said he entered into separate promissory notes on September 1, 2021, and September 15, 2021. The bank is seeking the debt plus $973.27 in interest that accrued before his termination after the shooting in July, and $55.75 per day of post-termination interest.
The petition names David Bernstein as executor of the estate of Leonard Bernstein and Sheryl Dianne Bernstein. It also named Sheryl Dianne Bernstein, the sole trustee for Leonard Bernstein’s revocable trust, which is dated September 2004.
Morgan Stanley said it has demanded repayment of the loan from the defendants, but they have rejected the claim. “In equity and good conscience, defendants should not be allowed to retain the proceeds of the loan. Therefore, the court should order restitution,” the petition stated. The bank is also seeking attorney fees and any other applicable relief under the law.
Morgan Stanley did not respond to a request for comment.
Bernstein was charged with shooting Christopher Shawn Bayouth multiple times in his torso, back, leg and foot, police said. Witnesses reported that Bernstein calmly left the office and took off in his vehicle after shooting his co-worker multiple times. Police said Bayouth identified Bernstein as the shooter when they arrived at the scene. Bernstein was later apprehended during a traffic stop and taken into custody, police said.
Morgan Stanley fired Bernstein a day after the incident and sought a temporary restraining order against him.
An obituary in The Oklahoman in August noted that Bernstein suffered from mental illness.
Bernstein began his career with Morgan Stanley in 1994, according to BrokerCheck. He joined Citigroup Global Markets in 2004 and left in 2007 to rejoin Morgan Stanley, where he stayed for five years before moving to Wells Fargo. In September 2021, he returned to Morgan Stanley.