Trial Ordered For Bucks County Family Accused Of $20M Insurance Fraud

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A judge has ordered members of a Pennsylvania family whose mansion had three fires in five years to stand trial in a $20 million insurance fraud case.

Political fundraiser and hostess Claire Risoldi and her family are accused of living large on trumped-up insurance claims involving their 10-acre "Clairemont" estate in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Bucks County Judge C. Robert Roth's ruling Wednesday came after six days of testimony in a preliminary hearing.

A jewelry appraiser testified that Risoldi used "salty language" and discussed the Mafia during a meeting over her claims that millions of dollars in jewelry disappeared during a fire.

Defense lawyers say the fires were electrical and have vowed to fight the criminal charges.

Risoldi's husband killed himself in February. Her daughter, son and daughter-in-law are also charged.

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