Pennsylvania socialite headed to prison for $13 million insurance fraud

A Pennsylvania socialite is headed to prison for scamming nearly $13 million from insurance companies.

Claire Risoldi, 71, was convicted in February on six charges related to fraudulent insurance claims. Now a judge has ruled that Risoldi will spend 11 and a half to 23 months in prison and pay $10.4 million in restitution for insurance claims she filed after three fires at her estate, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A jury found that Risoldi and her family conspired to scam insurers after three fires at her estate between 2009 and 2013, the Inquirer reported. Risoldi and her family sought payment for items on which they’d already collected insurance money. She also increased coverage on pieces of jewelry shortly before the third fire in 2018, the Inquirer reported. All told, Risoldi allegedly scammed nearly $13 million from her insurers.

Risoldi and five others – including her husband, Thomas French – were charged in 2015. French committed suicide shortly afterward, leaving a note insisting on his innocence, according to the Inquirer.

Risoldi’s attorney, Jack McMahon, told the Inquirer that he planned to appeal the sentence.