APRIL 2, 2015
A local GOP fundraiser charged in a $20
million insurance scheme after three mansion fires in five years cursed and
discussed the Mafia while meeting with a jewelry appraiser about her claims,
the appraiser testified Tuesday.
Claire Risoldi’s “salty language” was humorous until it
became threatening, appraiser Don Palmieri testified at a hearing over the
racketeering case filed against Risoldi, her adult children and three others.
He noted one instance when she called him a “rat bastard.”
“You don’t normally hear women of her stature (talk that
way),” Palmieri said. “There was a lot of discussion about Mafia. I thought
that was meant to maybe intimidate us.”
Risoldi, 67, is known as a colorful character in Bucks
County who threw lavish political fundraisers at a 10-acre estate she called
Clairemont. Her insurance claims included $2 million for Swarovski
crystal-inflected drapes and $10 million for jewelry purportedly moved to the
house from her bank when she surprised guests at an October 2013 fundraiser by
getting married. The mansion burned for a third time weeks later.
Risoldi said the jewelry went missing during the fire – and
pointed the blame at firefighters. But a January grand jury report charged that
some of the same pieces were later found in her safety deposit box.
Palmieri, working for her insurer, said at least some of the
pieces found were custom, challenging defense suggestions that she had
duplicates.
No one is charged with arson in the case, and the defense
maintains that all three fires were accidental. Three insurance companies
honored claims for fires in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
A fire marshal is expected to testify about his findings
Tuesday afternoon. The grand jury report alleges that a large supply of hair
spray found near the 2013 fire’s origin could have served as an accelerant.
Risoldi typically sports teased, bouffant hair.
The racketeering case took a dark turn in February, when her
husband, retired sheriff’s deputy Thomas French, fatally shot himself. In a
note, he said the stress of defending himself against false accusations had
become too great. He wrote lovingly of his wife, saying, “There is no one like
her.”
Risoldi – who grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, across the
river from bucolic Bucks County – greeted guests at his church funeral in a
sporty fur jacket, spike-heeled boots and aviator sunglasses.
The others charged in the case are Risoldi’s son Carl, a
turnpike employee, and his wife, Sheila; her daughter Carla, a local lawyer;
and a private investigator and drapery vendor. The preliminary hearing to
determine if the case goes to trial is expected to last all week.
Defense lawyers have called the charges by the Democrat-led
state attorney general’s office politically motivated.