Woman who paid deposit for Fotis Dulos’ $6M bond wants money back
A woman described in paperwork as Fotis Dulos’ “best friend” is suing to get a $148,000 deposit back from the bond company that covered Dulos’ $6 million bail issued when he was charged last year with kidnapping and killing his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in February, Anna Curry, a North Carolina resident who was living with Fotis Dulos when he was arrested, alleges that she is owed the $148,000 deposit she gave 24/7 Bail Bonds, an agent of Palmetto Surety Company, since the company moved to withdraw the $6 million bond on Jan. 28, 2020.
Fotis Dulos was charged with murder and kidnapping in the disappearance and death of Jennifer Dulos on Jan. 7, 2020. He was released from custody following his arraignment on Jan. 9 when Curry paid 24/7 Bail Bonds a deposit of $148,000, documents said.
Curry was prepared to pay the rest of the $420,000 deposit in installments over several months, filings show, but Fotis Dulos attempted suicide the morning of Jan. 28, 2020. At the time, Palmetto Surety Company, based in South Carolina, was about to revoke the $6 million on the grounds it exceeded the limitations of risk outlined in Connecticut state law, filings show.
Fotis Dulos died two days later. Curry now wants the $148,000 deposit returned, but her attorney, Stephen Curley, said 24/7 Bail Bonds and Palmetto Surety Company are refusing to do so, according to filings. The lawsuit claims the bond and surety companies “misappropriated” her deposit.
In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Attorney A. Ryan McGuigan, representing the bail bond company, contends his client fulfilled its obligations by getting Fotis Dulos released from custody. The owner of the company went to his home on Jan. 28 when Fotis Dulos didn’t show up in court and found police attempting to resuscitate him, court filings said.
“We moved to dismiss the claim because she doesn’t have one,” McGuigan said Wednesday. “The bond was never declared bad. Based on the facts and circumstances agreed upon, she doesn’t have a claim for relief.”
McGuigan said in the motion to dismiss
that Palmetto withdrew its motion to revoke the bond while Fotis Dulos was in a New York hospital being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. New York officials confirmed that Fotis Dulos committed
suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning weeks after his death.
Curry’s attorney did not return a request for comment Wednesday.
Jennifer Dulos was reported missing on May 24, 2019. She is believed dead by police and her family and her remains have not been found.
Arrest warrants indicate that police believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” for his estranged wife to return home after dropping their five children off at school the morning of May 24, 2019. At the time, the couple was in the midst of in a contentious two-year divorce and custody battle over their children.
She was reported missing that evening. New Canaan police investigating the missing persons report found blood and evidence of a clean up in the garage of her home, according to arrest warrants.
Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis were charged about two weeks later with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution after they were captured on Hartford surveillance cameras
dropping garbage bags in trash bins along a busy street the night Jennifer Dulos was reported missing, arrest records show.
The bags contained items stained with the blood and DNA of Jennifer Dulos, arrest warrants said. Troconis and attorney Kent Mawhnney were charged with conspiracy to commit murder on Jan. 7, 2020. By that point, Troconis had been ordered to stay away from Fotis Dulos as their criminal cases proceeded.
Troconis told investigators that she was wrong to trust Fotis Dulos, according to court filings by her defense attorney.
Curry was listed on bond documents as Fotis Dulos’ “best friend.” She had been living at his home in Farmington when he was charged with the murder of his estranged wife. Curry had left the house and was expecting to meet Fotis Dulos at Stamford Superior Court for the hearing on the $6 million bond on Jan. 28, 2020, she told police.
She arrived to find Farmington police officers attempting to revive him.