Attorney Accused in Grand Scale Theft Can't Be Located
By: Joe Holden
Updated: March 13, 2012
Plains Township, Luzerne County- Tony Lupas was never hard to find. The high paid, high wattage attorney was easily accessible in the four decades he was chief solicitor of the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.
Lupas appeared in several on-camera interviews on WBRE-TV in a check of station archives.
In a defined change of course, Lupas hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment.
On Monday, he was accused by Attorney Ernie Preate of swindling "tens of millions" of dollars over decades. Among the unsuspecting investors caught in an alleged Ponzi scheme, people looking to grow retirement and investment accounts, according to Preate.
Philadelphia Attorney Gavin Lentz told Eyewitness News on Tuesday he would be filing a number of lawsuits on Wednesday.
A Luzerne County sheriff's deputy left a doorknob hanger Tuesday morning requesting Lupas contact the department so that court documents could be served to Lupas.
Eyewitness News paid visits to Lupas' apartment at East Mountain in Plains Township at 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday. At last check, the day's newspapers and the doorknob hanger remained.
There was no Tony Lupas. A secretary who answered the door a day earlier was also not around. She declined comment on behalf of Lupas Monday afternoon.
In published reports, the financial picture emerging of the ex-solicitor is glaring. Lupas was paid in excess of $300,000 for work just last year, according to the district.
Area solicitors working for other school districts called the figure into question, saying the number is exorbitantly high. The solicitors contacted asked that they not be identified.
Lupas is father of Judge David Lupas. According to a statement released Monday by the judge, the elderly Lupas had sustained serious injuries stemming from a fall several months ago. At that time, the judge wrote, he discovered "circumstances" that he believed warranted an investigation.
On Monday, former District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll confirmed she referred the case to the attorney general's office in late December.
David Lupas declined further comment.
An attorney apparently representing Tony Lupas hasn't returned several messages left for comment. Eyewitness News stopped by Attorney Joseph Blazocek's West Pittston office on Tuesday night. Nobody was at the Wyoming Avenue office.
Lupas appeared in several on-camera interviews on WBRE-TV in a check of station archives.
In a defined change of course, Lupas hasn't responded to repeated requests for comment.
On Monday, he was accused by Attorney Ernie Preate of swindling "tens of millions" of dollars over decades. Among the unsuspecting investors caught in an alleged Ponzi scheme, people looking to grow retirement and investment accounts, according to Preate.
Philadelphia Attorney Gavin Lentz told Eyewitness News on Tuesday he would be filing a number of lawsuits on Wednesday.
A Luzerne County sheriff's deputy left a doorknob hanger Tuesday morning requesting Lupas contact the department so that court documents could be served to Lupas.
Eyewitness News paid visits to Lupas' apartment at East Mountain in Plains Township at 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday. At last check, the day's newspapers and the doorknob hanger remained.
There was no Tony Lupas. A secretary who answered the door a day earlier was also not around. She declined comment on behalf of Lupas Monday afternoon.
In published reports, the financial picture emerging of the ex-solicitor is glaring. Lupas was paid in excess of $300,000 for work just last year, according to the district.
Area solicitors working for other school districts called the figure into question, saying the number is exorbitantly high. The solicitors contacted asked that they not be identified.
Lupas is father of Judge David Lupas. According to a statement released Monday by the judge, the elderly Lupas had sustained serious injuries stemming from a fall several months ago. At that time, the judge wrote, he discovered "circumstances" that he believed warranted an investigation.
On Monday, former District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll confirmed she referred the case to the attorney general's office in late December.
David Lupas declined further comment.
An attorney apparently representing Tony Lupas hasn't returned several messages left for comment. Eyewitness News stopped by Attorney Joseph Blazocek's West Pittston office on Tuesday night. Nobody was at the Wyoming Avenue office.
