Ex-trustee in court over adoption fraud
Daily Camera
Published May 20, 2008 at 9 p.m.
The lawyer representing an Erie woman accused of bilking several would-be parents out of tens of thousands of dollars told a judge Monday police have no evidence she did anything wrong.
Police arrested Lisa Novak, a former Erie trustee, in April. She was charged with two counts of felony theft and one count of felony fraud in connection with her work for the Claar Foundation, a now-defunct adoption agency.
Novak was in court Monday for a preliminary hearing. The hearing will resume Friday.
Jaspal Singh, one of the prosecution witnesses, said Novak took at least $25,000 in fees for an adoption that fell through because she misfiled paperwork.
Singh also said Novak urged him and his wife, Linda, to falsify a document to increase their odds of success as they tried to adopt their second child from Guatemala.
Singh said the adoption never happened because of Novak's negligence and that she refused to return the money.
Novak's lawyer, Lance Goff, said the Singhs' contract explicitly refused to guarantee successful adoptions. He suggested that it was the Singhs who bumbled the adoption bureaucracy.
Featured
-
Denver turns 150
Read about the city's history, look at old photos and see a list of influential Denverites.
-
Mount Crushmore
Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.
-
Winter Escapes
Your insider’s guide to the copious joys of the coolest season.
-
Rocky Multimedia
The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.
-
Weekend plans?
Figure out things to do this weekend with the help of our entertainment calendar.
-
Season To Share
The Post-News Season To Share campaign provides grants to area nonprofits.
-
The Rocky @ 150 Years
The Rocky was there when Colorado became a state in 1876. Read our coverage.
-
A Dozen on Denver
And the winner is... Robert Ziegler! See the whole fiction series by clicking here.
-
Rocky Mountain Music
Mark Brown blogs on the new Guns N' Roses album
Post your comment
Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.