Nanticoke sewer, street projects set to move forward

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Parking no longer free at Wilkes-Barre lot, but some drinks next door are

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Five sisters are mired in a bitter legal battle over a shuttered city business three of them say the others ran into the ground while enriching themselves.</p><p>The lawsuit, filed June 10 in Luzerne County Court on behalf of Toni Madden of Dallas, Theresa Martin of Shavertown, and Donna Shultz of Trucksville, accuses Catherine Podolak and Elizabeth Roccograndi, both of Pringle, of pilfering the assets of My Brother&#8217;s Place.</p><p>&#8220;The defendants have engaged in self-dealing and have acted in bad faith or corrupt motive,&#8221; according to the complaint, filed by Kingston attorney Jarrett Ferentino. &#8220;They have depleted and misappropriated corporate assets for their own personal gain.&#8221;</p><p>The complaint alleges the home improvement business suffered losses of over $1.3 million between 2007 and 2014, as well as a $267,000 drop in sales in that time.</p><p>The business was founded on North Sherman Street in 1972 by the sisters&#8217; grandfather, Thomas J. Roccograndi, and was bought out in 1985 by his son, Tony, who died in 2014. It closed in September.</p><p>Roccograndi, a columnist and former Times Leader reporter who was the business&#8217; president, allegedly paid herself between $75,000 and $90,000 per year at a time when sales were as low as two per week, the complaint says.</p><p>She allegedly removed more than $50,000 from the business in August &#8220;unilaterally and without authority,&#8221; among other breaches of her duties in the company, according to the complaint.</p><p>The three sisters on June 10 filed a separate lawsuit against Roccograndi and Podolak alleging they raided a trust set up for them by their late father by selling off $500,000 each in investments without their knowledge and gave themselves bonuses using trust funds.</p><p>Roccograndi and Podolak on Friday deferred comment to their attorney, Kim Borland.</p><p>Reached Friday, Borland said Luzerne County Judge William H. Amesbury has &#8220;worked diligently over the past months to bring the parties together, and this unilateral and completely unauthorized action was contrary to the process (Amesbury) had all the parties engage in,&#8221; Borland said.</p><p>He added: &#8220;Factually, the material is utterly inaccurate and procedurally they&#8217;re not in the right place either.&#8221;</p><p>Borland said he expects to file a response to the complaints within in the next week.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_web1_TTL021116MYBROSPLACE-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">My Brother&#8217;s Place on North Sherman Street closed in September. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/web1_web1_TTL021116MYBROSPLACE-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>My Brother&#8217;s Place on North Sherman Street closed in September. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Sisters at odds in lawsuit over Wilkes-Barre business’ ‘wasted assets’