Family of alleged Sweeten victim sues over losses

The family of an elderly Bucks County man is suing two of the region's largest financial institutions, saying their lack of vigilance helped enable Bonnie Sweeten to illegally plunder the man's retirement savings.

Meanwhile, three lawyers have confirmed that a federal grand jury is investigating Sweeten, the suburban mother who last year faked her abduction, stole a coworker's identification, and fled with her 9-year-old daughter to Disney World.

The probe is believed to include allegations of a $280,000 theft from Victor Biondino, 92, of Oakford, the alleged victim in the lawsuit filed last week in Bucks County Court.

Biondino, who suffers from dementia, is the grandfather of Sweeten's first husband.

The suit says that in late 2008, Sweeten stole a blank Vanguard account check from Biondino, made it out for $280,000, and forged Biondino's signature on it. A paralegal, Sweeten deposited the check into a Commerce Bank (now TD Bank) account bearing the name of her former employer, attorney Debbie Carlitz.

The lawsuit alleges that TD Bank and the Vanguard Group should have questioned the check, but honored it despite red flags.

The amount of the check alone should have prompted TD and Vanguard to confirm the transaction with Biondino's family, the lawsuit says. It was made out to "Victor Biondino - Trust Account," an entity that does not exist. And the fact that it was being deposited into Carlitz's law-firm account by someone other than the payee should have raised suspicions, the suit says.

The complaint also names Sweeten and Carlitz - whose practice had already closed before the alleged forgery - as defendants.

A spokeswoman for TD Bank said the bank was gathering facts and could not comment on pending litigation.

Vanguard spokesman John S. Woerth said the company was disappointed that the suit had been filed and believed it was meritless.

"We urged the plaintiffs to report the fraud to the police immediately," Woerth said. "When they did not do so, Vanguard then proactively contacted law enforcement officials" and tried to recover Biondino's assets.

Had Biondino's family acted sooner to notify police, Woerth said, Vanguard believes that "all of the assets could have been recovered."

Biondino's losses remain.

His daughter and caretaker, Theresa MacCord, said her lawyer had advised her not to talk about the case. Her attorney, Ralph J. Kelly, also declined to comment.

Ellen Brotman, an attorney for Carlitz, said the wrongdoing alleged by Biondino's family was done "exclusively by Bonnie Sweeten. She is entirely at fault. She was not acting as [Carlitz's] agent."

The Inquirer reported in August - and prosecutors later confirmed - that Sweeten's theft from Biondino had led her to commit the nationally publicized abduction hoax.

Sweeten, 38, had forged Biondino's Vanguard check on Dec. 26, 2008, the same day she had paid two of Carlitz's clients the six-figure settlements they had been owed for more than a year.

Her former in-laws soon learned of the theft, but, reluctant to prosecute her, leaned on her instead to repay it.

In May, after months of delay, Sweeten wrote Biondino's family a check, knowing it wouldn't clear. She bolted the day it bounced.

Sweeten pleaded guilty Aug. 27 to identity theft and filing false reports, and is serving a nine- to 24-month sentence in the Bucks County prison. She had been scheduled this past Saturday for release on house arrest, but was rejected because of misconduct involving another inmate, said her lawyer, Louis Busico.

Busico said he did not represent Sweeten on civil matters. But he confirmed that a grand jury in Philadelphia had been convened by federal prosecutors.

"Their investigation is ongoing," Busico said. "I know people have been issued subpoenas, but that's all I know."

Robert Mancini, an attorney representing Sweeten's parents, said he, too, knew of the grand jury probe. He declined to say whether his clients had been subpoenaed.

Thomas Blackburn, an attorney for Sweeten's second husband, Richard L. "Larry" Sweeten, also confirmed that he was aware of the grand jury. He, too, declined to say whether Larry Sweeten had been issued a subpoena.

Biondino's relatives have said they did not believe that Larry Sweeten was aware of his wife's illegal activities. He later filed for a divorce, which was granted in December.