Indiana Attorney Charged with Felony Theft of Birth Injury Settlement

A former attorney from northern Indiana has pleaded not guilty to Class C felony theft and Class D felony theft. If convicted, Clark W. Holesinger, 53, faces a sentence of up to eight years for the former charge, while the latter charge could lead to a sentence of up to three years. The attorney has been accused of embezzling over $1.6 million from his clients, including from a family who was supposed to receive a birth injury settlement. Before the Indiana Bar Association could take any action against Holesinger, he surrendered his license to practice.

Attorney faces serious allegations

In 2014, Holesinger was accused of the theft of over $1.6 million from various companies for whom he had reportedly been placed in charge of managing financial matters. Holesinger was responsible for calculating and paying one firm’s tax liability. However, according to the Chesterton Tribune, a forensic accountant determined that Holesinger was reportedly cashing the checks, rather than paying taxes with them. The firm discovered the financial discrepancies when a tax warrant led to a bank levy placed on its corporate account because of unpaid taxes. That year, a total of four charges of Class C felony theft were leveled against him.

Alleged theft of child’s birth injury settlement

Another felony charge is related to the alleged theft of a child’s birth injury settlement. The child was born with permanent disabilities in 1999 and after filing a birth injury lawsuit, the family received a check for $612,042 from the Indiana Patient Compensation Fund in December 2007. The mother allegedly entrusted Holesinger with the check for the purpose of creating an investment account in the child’s name at Greater Valparaiso Group of Thrivent Financial For Lutherans.

The mother reportedly found it suspicious that she never received financial statements from the account. In early 2014 when news broke of the felony charges against the attorney, the mother discovered that Holesinger had allegedly never created the account for the child and had reportedly stolen the money instead.

Another alleged victim steps forward

Other felony charges were leveled against Holesinger stemming from his stint as vice chairman of New Creation Men’s Center Board of Directors. The organization was formed for the purpose of assisting the homeless. Holesinger served as vice chairman from January 2012 to February 2013. Under power of attorney, a client of the New Creation Men’s Center entrusted Holesinger with his Social Security disability payment, which totaled about $1,700 each month. Out of that money, Holesinger was entrusted with paying the client’s rent and utility bills. Holesinger was supposed to give the client the balance of the money.

However, the client claimed that Holesinger did not give him the remainder of the money and he subsequently rescinded the power of attorney. The client advised Detective Jeff Biggs of the Porter County Sheriff’s Police that he discovered Holesinger had allegedly written seven checks to himself in the total amount of $33,931, along with two checks totaling $8,000 payable to apartment buildings, neither of which the client lived in.

Holesinger’s trial date is currently set for April 22. However, the prosecutor handling the case informed the Chicago Tribune, “The investigation into other potential victims is out there.”

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