Oakland Lawyer Forged Judgement, Used $14K Of Entrusted Funds: Prosecutor

OAKLAND, NJ — A borough lawyer was charged with forgery after he created a fraudulent judgement regarding his failure to disburse entrusted funds from a client, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Craig C. Swenson, 54, of Oakland, was arrested after the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Financial Crimes Unit received a complaint from his clients regarding him not giving them money he received due to a court-ordered judgement, Grewal said.

An investigation revealed that Swenson provided the clients with a forged judgement, purportedly from a Bergen County Superior Court Judge; no such judgement had been issued, Grewal said.

Swenson used about $14,500 in entrusted funds, which were 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 judgement, the prosecutor said.

Swenson was arrested Thursday. He was charged with misapplication of entrusted funds and forgery, Grewal said.

Swenson is scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court Sept. 20.

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Photo: Craig C. Swenson, 54/Bergen County Prosecutor's Office