Crime & Safety
Defendant in Lawsuit Involving Former Mayor Found Liable for $1.5 Million
One of four defendants in a lawsuit involving former Manchester Mayor Peter DiRosa was found liable recently for $1.5 million in damages.
A Maine Superior Court judge issued a ruling earlier this month finding one of four defendants in a lawsuit filed by a Maine man that alleges he was swindled out of $600,000 in retirement savings by a bogus scheme to invest in a Hungarian resort and casino liable for more than $1.5 million in damages.
is also a defendant in the lawsuit, although the ruling was issued against Jerry Wolff, a New York-based businessman who is listed on investment papers as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian resort and casino project, known as the , that Kennebunk resident Frank Jablonski invested $600,000 worth of his retirement savings into in May of 2008.
According to court documents, Wolff, who was folded into the civil lawsuit alongside DiRosa, Glastonbury resident Thomas Renison, and Allan Stadler, a Connecticut-based architect, failed to file an answer to the complaint before the deadline and was defaulted. Maine Superior Court Judge Paul E. Fritzsche then issued a judgment against Wolff in the amount of $1.5 million consisting of: the original $600,000 that Jablonski paid to the group, $400,000 for the amount Jablonski was promised based on his initial investment, $200,000 for the tax penalty that Jablonski suffered from taking money out of an investment annuity in order to make the investment, $52,301.87 for the withdrawal penalty Jablonski had to pay, and $253,500 in estimated lost income from the investment, minus $60,000 returned to Jablonski at an earlier date.
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provided to Jablonski list Wolff as president of Total Communications, a New York City-based media buying and sports promotion company.
According to court documents, Jablonski said that DiRosa, who served as mayor of Manchester from 1987 to 1989, and Renison promised him that his money would be returned within six months along with a $400,000 profit in exchange for the initial investment. In addition, Jablonski claims that he was told that the money would be placed in an interest bearing account that would yield an additional 10 percent annual interest on the $600,000 investment, that any penalties, surrender charges and taxes incurred by the withdrawal would be paid by the investment group, and he would also receive an additional $6,500 per month to replace the lost income from his annuities.
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Jablonski’s attorney, Durwood Parkinson, said he still planned to seek judgment in similar suits against DiRosa, Renison and Stadler for punitive damages, because the main goal was to recover Jablonski’s money, which still had not been returned to him.
“We can talk all we want, and it definitely makes an interesting case,” Parkinson said. “But at the end of the day, we can’t rest until the Jablonskis are made whole.”
DiRosa and Renison were arrested by the FBI for conspiracy to commit wire fraud on June 2 based on a complaint filed by Jablonski, a Maine retiree. Both were released on a $50,000 bond shortly after their arrests, and neither has been indicted on the charges since.
Any civil suits filed against the defendants have no bearing on the criminal charges.
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