Lawyer, client charged in scam
A Braddock attorney and her former criminal client have been charged by Allegheny County detectives with the theft of $112,300 in an allegedly deceptive business venture on behalf of a proposed Penn Hills law school.
County police Detective Daniel Meinert filed charges Monday against Roseanne Diehl, 49, and ex-convict Lynne Lamar, 47, of Plum, who have advertised themselves since 1998 as founders of the National Legal Academy, formerly called the National University School of Law.
Meinert said Diehl and Lamar received the money from Dr. Nathan Savitz of Fox Chapel as a loan in their failed attempt to buy the former Shop 'N Save building near the intersection of Frankstown and Verona roads in Penn Hills, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
A third defendant, Norman Verzinski, 28, of Willow Village Drive, Plum, also was charged with attempting to pass himself off as an official of National City Bank to convince Savitz that the women had received a $200,000 line of credit with the bank, which was untrue.
During a meeting at the supermarket building, when Savitz was introduced to Verzinski, a broker with Atlantis II Mortgage Co., it was obvious to Diehl and Lamar that the men knew each other, the affidavit said.
Verzinski later told Savitz that he had refused to participate in the 'charade,' but his presence there contradicts his claim, the affidavit stated.
Each defendant was charged with theft by deception, criminal conspiracy and deceptive or fraudulent business practices.
Lamar and Diehl also are charged with dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities. Lamar faces an additional charge of criminal solicitation.
They face a hearing March 12 before Penn Hills District Justice Leonard J. Hromyak. Diehl and Verzinski were released on their own recognizance.
Lamar, whose bond was set at $25,000, is in the Allegheny County Jail on a detainer for other pending charges and a probation violation.
Lamar had been paroled in 1997 from the state correctional facility at Cambridge Springs, Crawford County, after serving a term on bad check charges.
Lamar and Diehl told Savitz that they were attempting to raise money for the National Endowment Program Inc., the sponsor of the National Legal Academy, the affidavit stated.
Diehl was to be the dean of the school and Lamar was her assistant, which was proposed for a building in the 3500 block of Laketon Road, Penn Hills, according to academy literature.
The legal academy was denied occupancy permits in the building, and the phone at the Laketon Road office has recently been answered 'National Endowment.'
Savitz has filed a civil lawsuit in Common Pleas Court seeking to recover nearly $122,000 he said was given to Lamar and Diehl since April and was supposed to be repaid in increments with interest by September. He contended no payments have been made.
Robert Baird can be reached at rbaird@tribweb.com or (412) 391-8650.
