Risoldi stepson charges forgery of will

The stepson of Claire Risoldi, the politically connected Bucks County woman charged with collecting $20 million through insurance fraud, has claimed in a court filing that Risoldi submitted a forged copy of his late father's will.

Thomas French Jr., whose father, Thomas Sr., committed suicide in February after being criminally charged alongside Risoldi, does not explicitly state why he believes Risoldi would have manufactured the document.

But in the 13-page filing, written by his lawyer, Karl Prior, French Jr. accuses Risoldi of doctoring two signatures on a purported copy of the will, saying they appear "identical."

"No person ever signs his or her name exactly the same way twice," the filing says, speculating that Risoldi may have copied French Sr.'s signature from another document.

French Jr. filed the petition Friday in Bucks County Orphans' Court.

Risoldi's attorney as listed in court records, Peter Harrison, could not be reached for immediate comment. Risoldi's lawyer in the criminal case against her, Jack McMahon, said he had no knowledge of the document and was not involved in the civil proceeding.

Risoldi, a major contributor to Bucks County Republicans, has been accused by the Attorney General's Office of forging documents, among other methods, to inflate insurance reimbursements for her family following three fires at their estate, Clairemont, outside New Hope.

All told, prosecutors have alleged, Risoldi and five family members, including the elder French, conspired to dupe insurers out of $20 million following the fires in 2013, 2010, and 2009. The proceeds, prosecutors say, were used to finance the family's expensive lifestyle.

French Sr., a retired Bucks County sheriff's deputy, killed himself a few weeks after being charged. He wrote in two apparent suicide notes that he was innocent but overwhelmed by pressure.

All of the surviving family members have denied the charges and are fighting them in court.

According to French Jr.'s petition, Risoldi said she filed a photocopy of her late husband's will in court because the original was destroyed in the 2013 fire. She was the named executor, and her son, Carl, was listed as an alternate. French Jr. was not named, the petition says.

French Jr. says in his filing that he was unaware that his father had a will. The two had discussed how French Jr. would inherit his father's coin and model train collections, the petition says.

Prior said his client does not believe that the elder French left a significant inheritance.

The petition claims that Risoldi, in attempting to persuade French Jr. to sign off on the photocopied will, told him the estate was in debt.

French Jr. is not primarily motivated by money, Prior said. The filing, he said, "in part, [is] about principle."

The motion will require Risoldi to prove to a judge that French Sr. had written his will and that it was destroyed in the fire. If she cannot prove that, Prior said, French Sr.'s estate could end up divided among family members in accordance with state law.

Prior said Risoldi would likely have 20 days to file a reply to the new allegations.