Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrest of Craig C. Swenson, 54, of Oakland, on Misapplication of Entrusted Funds and Forgery related charges.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on July 2017, received a complaint from clients of Craig C. Swenson, Esq. regarding his failure to disburse to them, monies he had reported receiving as the result of a court-ordered judgment.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Swenson had provided the clients with a forged judgment, which was purported to have been issued by a Bergen County Superior Court Judge. In reality, no such judgment had been issued.
The investigation further revealed that Swenson used approximately $14,500 in entrusted funds, which were to be held in his attorney’s trust account for a separate matter, to make a fraudulent payment to the clients to whom had provided the forged judgment, all in furtherance of his deception.
As a result of the investigation, Swenson was arrested on September 7th in Paramus, and was charged with one count of Misapplication of Entrusted Funds, with a benefit greater than $1,000, but less than $75,000 and one count of Forgery by Uttering.
Swenson was served with a Complaint-Summons for the aforementioned charges and released. He is scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court for a first appearance on September 20th at 8:30 a.m.
These charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.