A Buckingham man convicted of participating in a multimillion-dollar insurance fraud scheme involving his politically connected family is suing his former employer contending he was wrongly suspended after his arrest and later terminated.
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| Carl Risoldi (l) entering court in 2016 |
Carl Risoldi, 48, filed the wrongful termination suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Dauphin County alleging his civil and due process rights were violated when he was suspended without pay and benefits from his $74,000 a year job as a Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission public relations and marketing specialist more than four years ago.
Risoldi had worked for the state commission from 2005 until he was suspended on Jan. 23, 2015, the day after a state grand jury indicted him, four family members and two family associates in connection with an alleged $20 million in insurance fraud involving a series of undetermined fires at their family’s Buckingham estate, Clairemont.
According to the civil suit, Risoldi received a letter the day of his suspension that if the criminal activities were proved it would violate the department’s code of conduct which states employees are to “refrain from engaging in conduct that would reflect unfavorably on or discredit the commission.”
While under suspension, Risoldi was barred from entering commission property, or contacting other employees without the commission’s permission. He also was ordered to return his identification badge and gate key and other commission-owned property, the suit said.
Nearly two years into his suspension, Risoldi received a notice Dec. 12, 2017, that his job was eliminated under a restructuring of the public relations and marketing department, the suit said.
In his suit, Risoldi contends that had he been given adequate due process “it would have emerged that both the initial decision to terminate (Risoldi) and the ultimate one was without any basis.”
His Philadelphia attorney David Koller did not return an email seeking comment Tuesday. Turnpike commission spokesman Carl Defebo Jr. declined comment citing the active litigation.
Risoldi claims in the lawsuit that he lives in the 5700 block of Stoney Hill Road in Buckingham, the address of Clairemont. It also states that his “criminal matter” is still pending.
Carl Risoldi pleaded guilty in February to three misdemeanor theft, attempted theft and conspiracy charges in connection with the multimillion false insurance claims filed following the 2013 fire. He was sentenced to four years of probation.
As part of the plea agreement Risoldi also forfeited Clairemont to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office to satisfy his restitution order in the fraud case. Risoldi and his family moved into a home on Danielle Drive in Buckingham after the 2013 fire, and Clairemont was left vacant.
The Clairemont property was sold at a public auction in April for $742,000 to Virtus Capital Advisors LLC, which is based in New York City.
The insurance fraud case made national headlines after a state grand jury charged the family with funding an extravagant lifestyle using fraudulently obtained insurance proceeds and falsely accusing volunteer firefighters of stealing $10 million in alleged missing jewelry after the third fire at the home.
The Risoldis were well-known in the county for hosting lavish fundraisers, social events and political candidates, and their close political ties led to the entire Bucks County judicial bench recusing themselves from the case.
Carl Risoldi and his mother, Claire Risoldi, 72, were the only ones convicted of the crime. Earlier this year a Bucks County jury found Claire Risoldi guilty of six felonies for filing $13 million in false insurance claims related to the 2013 fire. She was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in Bucks County jail and ordered to pay $10.4 million in restitution to AIG in May but remains free on bail while an appeal of her restitution order is pending.
Other family members also charged in the case were approved to enter special trial diversion programs for non-violent, first-time offenders that, once completed, would expunge their criminal record. The two family associates had charges against them dismissed. Claire Risoldi’s second husband, Thomas French, died by suicide shortly after the indictments were handed down.
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