Disbarred Lackawanna County attorney charged with forgery, tampering records

by Emily Cherkauskas

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) — A disbarred Lackawanna County attorney is now facing charges of forgery and tampering with records.

James Conaboy is expected to be arraigned on Thursday in Luzerne County for two charges each of forgery and tampering records, accused of lying to clients and forging signatures.

Conaboy was initially disbarred in 2023 amid the investigation.

In 2015, Teresa Matheson had hip surgery that resulted in complications and multiple following surgeries. In 2017, Conaboy, at the time an attorney with Abrahamsen, Conaboy & Abrahamsen, filed a medical malpractice suit against Geisinger. In April 2021, Conaboy notified the Mathesons that they were awarded $700,000 in a settlement and would receive the money a short time later, according to police. Despite making calls to Conaboy on a weekly basis, they never received the money, police said.

In March 2022, Teresa Matheson had received a document from Conaboy started that she will receive an extra $100,000 as interest since she had still not received the money. Later that month, she received a court document from Conaboy allegedly signed by Lackawanna County Judge Therence Nealon stating that the money was to be sent from the Catastrophic Loss Benefits Continuation Fund of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Later that month, Matheson received another court document from Conaboy, again thought to be signed by Judge Nealon, stating that Teresa Matheson was to be delivered $700,000.

However, in April 2022, the Mathesons received a phone call from Conaboy telling them "everything was a hoax and the court documents were fake," police wrote in an affidavit.

In a June 2022 interview, Conaboy told police that the suit was terminated on July 7, 2020, "since the claim could not be supported by a medical professional." Conaboy denied taking any money or defrauding the Mathesons in any way, according to an affidavit.

In the interview, Conaboy was shown several printed emails supplied by the Mathesons reportedly from Conaboy. However, Conaboy said he did not send those emails and has not spoken to the Mathesons since the suit was terminated in July 2020.

Through investigation, authorities discovered that:

• The Lackawanna County Clerk of Courts did not have the two-Judge Nealon documents
• Judge Nealon never issued the two orders
• Geisinger was never served with legal paperwork related to the lawsuit

In September 2022, the Office of the Attorney General took over the investigation, and agents began to question more victims.

In another medical malpractice case in 2022, Conaboy reached a $25,00 settlement with Mid Valley Outpatient Care for his client, James Moran. However, the case ended up moving forward and no settlement was reached with the doctor.

Conaboy had been leading Moran to believe the case then settled for $50,000, when in reality, the case settled for zero, according to police. Conaboy reportedly made several excuses as to why the money had not been sent to Moran.

Moran then saw in Feb. 2023 that Conaboy had been removed from the Abrahamsen, Conaboy & Abrahamsen website, and called the firm to ask about it. Conaboy's brother, Kevin Conaboy, said that he had a mental breakdown and told Moran that his case was over without a payout.

In July 2023, investigators met with Paul Grace, another victim, who had worked with the Department of Labor and Industry Bureau of Disability as a disability adjudicator.

Conaboy, who was a family friend of Grace, advised that Grace should file a lawsuit against the Department of Labor and Industry. In 2017, Conaboy led Grace to believe that he was entitled to $517,000 in a settlement but once again gave Grace various excuses as to why Grace hadn't received the money.

In one excuse, Conaboy sent Grace a forged document from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, falsely signed then-Inspector General Bruce Beemer seeking court action to have the money returned since it was taken from the wrong Commonwealth account.

In May 2023, Kevin Conaboy told Grace that everything James Conaboy told him was false and that the case ended up being dismissed in 2018.

Conaboy's arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Luzerne County.

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Disbarred Lackawanna County attorney charged with forgery, tampering records