Major Repub fundraiser busted for $20 million fraud. Claimed firefighters stole jewelry at 3rd fire

[JPZenger]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150123_Bucks_GOP_fundraiser_charged_in_fraud_scheme.html#gc7Uifcz68Mqk7XO.99

"Receiving $20 million in insurance payouts from the blazes of undetermined origin, the Risoldis allegedly bought six Ferraris and two Rolls-Royces, $1.2 million worth of jewelry, and another house while spending millions to renovate the damaged one.

Matriarch Claire Risoldi, 67, a prominent Republican donor and fund-raiser, was charged Thursday on a slew of felony charges, including insurance fraud and corruption.

Other family members charged include her daughter, Carla, a former Bucks County prosecutor and now a private attorney, and Claire Risoldi's husband, Thomas French, a retired deputy sheriff. The family is well-known in Bucks County legal, political, and law enforcement circles.

"This family and their coconspirators stole millions to fund a lifestyle of extravagance and excess," Attorney General Kane said in a statement. "Insurance fraud drives up the cost for everyone, including seniors and middle-class families. Even worse, the scheme was facilitated through threats, intimidation, and falsely accusing first responders of serious crimes."

After the last fire in 2013, Claire Risoldi accused volunteer firefighters of stealing rings and Rolex watches from her house, the Attorney General's Office said. She also allegedly threatened to "bury" an insurance claims adjuster when he contacted authorities regarding her suspicious claims."

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http://levittownnow.com/2015/01/22/retired-sheriff-deputy-high-profile-attorney-gop-fundraiser-arrested-in-multimillion-dollar-insurance-fraud-case/

The attorney general’s office said in a press release that the Risoldis filed insurance claims with their insurance carrier after each of the three fires. As of the grand jury, insurance companies have allegedly paid out $20 million in claims.

According to authorities, the Risoldis are seeking an additional $20 million of insurance money for the October 2013 fire. Half of the insurance claims were for jewelry that the grand jury found Claire Risoldi falsely accused the volunteer firefighters, who extinguished the fire, of stealing.

The cause of all three of the fires was ruled “undetermined,” the grand jury found. It was noted by the attorney general’s office that “large quantities of highly flammable materials stockpiled near the points of origin.”

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http://www.theintell.com/news/a-wolf-at-the-courthouse-door/article_1a660131-be72-5ee6-946c-4a5660d396fa.html

"We need not speculate on whether the Risoldi scandal will reach the highest levels of Republican politics in Bucks County, because the Risoldis are the highest level of Republican politics in Bucks County. Claire Risoldi’s daughter, Carla, is a former county prosecutor. Her son, Carl, is a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Her husband, Tom French, is a former Bucks County sheriff. They, along with two others, are facing a slew of charges arising from allegedly phony insurance claims.

....After a week of Wolf, Bucks County Republicans have two less judges who they can rely on, one less university trustee to open doors and help get their kid into Temple Law or Medicine, and one less Buckingham McMansion where they will gather to raise funds for their congressional candidate and other GOP office seekers.

... Republicans speculate that these are the opening salvos in a war to take out the state’s most powerful Republican, Bucks County's own Pasquale “Pat” Deon Sr. Deon is the Mr. Big of Pennsylvania politics. He chairs SEPTA. He is secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. He has casino and construction interests. The source said Republicans are concerned that the Democratic AG's office will launch a general investigation of SEPTA’s books, and an investigation into the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission patronage machine.

The strangest passage in this week’s grand jury presentment is the description of how the Risoldi family decorated “Clairemont,” their 6,000-square-foot house on rural Stony Hill Road. Claire Risoldi commissioned artist Russell Buckingham to paint murals of each Risoldi family member on the ceiling, “resplendent in flowing robes gazing down from the heavens" upon all who passed beneath them."

Here's some photos of the murals of the family members in the mansion where the alleged co-conspirators lived together. surprise - she looks just a little bit younger and thinner on the mural.

[Baitball Blogger]

1. It must take serious money to take care of those roots.

[freshwest]

2. No cupids in the murals. Cupidity got them elected, though. What a family...

[progressoid]

3. Wow.

Also, that mural is crap.

[Blue Owl]

4. Nice McMural

n/t

[packman]

5. I love this part of the post

"We need not speculate on whether the Risoldi scandal will reach the highest levels of Republican politics in Bucks County, because the Risoldis are the highest level of Republican politics in Bucks County" As a former resident of Pa., it is a well-known belief that anyone sitting in an office that has Pennsylvania Turnpike on its front door, is on the take.

Bucks County SHOULD be a stronghold of the Democrats seeing its proximity to Philadelphia , but it has a history of swinging from Dem to Repuke and back again. I guess its all the whites fleeing Philly to makes it so unpredictable.

[LuckyLib]

6. Hahaha! Too much stolen money and no taste.

What a Republican combination! Three fires and insurance fraud -- and of course it will all be because Dems are trying to bring them down!

[staggerleem]

7. 3 fires in 5 years??!!

Sounds like "Mafia lightning" to me!

[BrotherIvan]

8. We have turned greed into a psychosis

And then we applaud it and adore it. Our country is very, very sick.

[catbyte]

9. Ha ha ha!

Tacky, tacky tacky. I think that Republicans only have taste in their mouths. I've seen pictures of Boil Butt Limbaugh's houses and they look like Versailles, well, if Versailles had been decorated by Sadaam Hussein's pimp, that is..

[MisterP]

10. pure pornography!

[calimary]

11. Take 'em OUT!!!!

Take 'em out one-by-one! Drain the swamp!

I'd love to see a whole garbage-truckload of these rich CONtributors tied up in court having to exhaust a lot of their wealth on bail, defense attorneys, and attempts at "rehabilitative" PR. They might have that much less money to splurge on buying CON candidates.

[PCIntern]

12. I grew up in New Hope, PA...

my mother was a teacher in Lahaska...they once asked her to run as a Dem as a token against heavy Rethug registration and she refused. In the 60's the registration was about 5-1 Rethug/Dem...that's with all the 'hippies' and 'alternative lifestyle' people up there...many came from wealthy families and you know how that goes...

[alcina]

13. Twilight of the gods

I'm starting to think that the gods of mythology weren't so much supernatural beings as just obscenely acquisitive sociopaths who managed to largely seclude themselves from the masses. How different are our capitalist gods, residing in unimaginable opulence on their private islands and gated compounds, with powerful armies to protect them, consuming and destroying with no regard for any but themselves, revered by many and despised by some, producing legions of lesser "gods" who battle amongst themselves for their own glory and wealth .... until the inevitable time of reckoning.

[JPZenger]

14. Some interesting details about her retaliation and threats

http://www.theintell.com/news/local/jury-report-details-claire-risoldi-s-manipulations/article_a35ecb5a-1036-5216-9dbe-65502e15095b.html

The second half of the linked article provides some interesting details about the many people who were threatened by the fraudster.