GREENSBURG, Pa. — A mother and daughter from Westmoreland County are behind bars in what detectives describe as an elaborate theft scheme of nearly $4.5 million dollars in inheritance money that did not belong to them.
“Shocking. Shocking. It was unreal,” said Norma Cavada of Jeannette.
Cavada said that’s how she and her neighbors on North 2nd Street in Jeannette reacted after seeing heavy police activity on their street Thursday at her next-door neighbor’s house, 1309.
“We [neighbors] were on the phone yesterday. Everyone was in shock, we didn’t expect this, at all,” she told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.
Police arrested Lisa Valesky and her daughter, Angela Valesky, in what detectives described as an elaborate theft scheme of nearly $4.5 million of inheritance money that didn’t belong to them.
“Yeah...a lot of money,” Cavada said.
The investigation started in November.
The daughter of Bette Iannuzzo, the president of the former Greensburg Beverage beer distributor — called her attorney about inheritance funds she believed were to be disbursed from her mom’s estate in October.
Iannuzzo passed away in 2017, and the company was bought by INCO Beverage.
Her daughter’s attorney then found out that $4.4 million dollars from her mom had already been given out two years before, but not to her.
Investigators found there was a hearing in December 2022. At that hearing, a detective said Lisa Valesky pretended to be her sister on the phone, and also sent an email from a fake account, telling the court to disburse the money to Lisa, claiming she was out of the country.
From there, detectives said Lisa Valesky opened a bank account with her and her daughter Angela’s name on it, and that money was deposited there.
Detectives said Lisa Valesky purchased the home in Jeannette, next to Cavada, for $400,000.
“I just know there was a bidding war, and they came up with cash,” Cavada recalled.
Investigators said in court documents Angela Valesky purchased a Lincoln SUV for more than $121,000 in March 2023. That SUV can still be seen in Google Maps images at the Jeannette home.
Detectives said she also bought a home in Export for $175,000 just months later.
Neither women were employed at the time these purchases were made, investigators said.
On Friday, Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek noticed there is a sign on the door saying the home has been seized by the District Attorney’s office as evidence.
Neighbors there didn’t want to talk on camera but were also stunned by the news.
The Valeskys are in the Westmoreland County Prison without bond, and the District Attorney’s Office said investigators are still writing and serving warrants in the investigation.
Because this investigation is still ongoing, county detectives declined to comment. The attorney for the sister who detectives say is the rightful heir to that $4.5 million dollars also declined to comment.
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