The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Judge denies attorney’s request to question nanny
A judge has temporarily denied a motion to have the longtime nanny of the Dulos children provide a deposition in the $2.5 million lawsuits filed against their father.
Lauren Almeida was identified as the nanny for the five Dulos children, who were between the ages of 8 and 13 when the court papers were filed in June just weeks after their mother Jennifer Dulos disappeared on May 24.
Attorney Richard Weinstein, representing Gloria Farber in the civil lawsuits filed against her soninlaw, Fotis Dulos, was seeking testimony from Almeida about her knowledge of his business finances, according to court papers filed this week.
“In support of this motion, the plaintiff (Farber and the estate of her late husband Hilliard) represents that Ms. Alemida has information relevant to the issues raised by the plaintiff in its complaint concerning the financial affairs of the Fore Group as she was a former employee,” Weinstein said in his motion seeking the outofstate deposition.
Weinstein was hoping to take Almeida’s deposition in New York on Thursday when he was also scheduled to depose two other witnesses in the lawsuits slated to go to trial next month. She had agreed to the deposition, Weinstein said.
But Hartford Superior Court Judge Cesar Noble, who is overseeing the adjudication of the lawsuits, sided with attorney William Murray, representing Fotis Dulos in the civil cases, that a Thursday deposition didn’t give the defense enough time to prepare.
Noble denied the deposition, but said in his ruling that he would consider allowing Almeida to be deposed at a later date.
The legal sparring between Murray and Weinstein has intensified in recent months as the lawsuits move toward trial and as police continue their investigation into the disappearance of the 51yearold mother of five.
Fotis Dulos was already embroiled in the lawsuits filed in 2018 and in a contentious twoyear divorce and custody battle with Jennifer Dulos when he was charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution about a week after his estranged wife vanished.
Almeida is believed to be the nanny who took the children to Farber’s Manhattan home the day their mother went missing. Almeida is also believed to be the person who let police into Jennifer Dulos’ home when she was reported missing that night.
Days after Fotis Dulos and his girlfriend Michelle Troconis were charged in the disappearance, Farber sought to intervene in the divorce and seek temporary custody of the children.
At the time, court papers filed by Farber indicated that Almeida has been the children’s nanny for five years and that she planned to remain in the position as their grandmother cared for the kids in New York. Farber is now seeking permanent custody of the children who have remained with her since the disappearance.
Farber filed the $2.5 million lawsuits about six months after her daughter filed for divorce in June 2017. Weinstein contends in court papers that the family provided business loans to Fotis Dulos and his company that were not repaid. Murray has countered the claims by saying the money was a gift, since there are no promissory notes. Recent court filings indicate Weinstein has at least one note, which may have been previously paid.
Weinstein has continuously claimed that Fotis Dulos was purposely hiding money, had used his business accounts as his “personal piggy bank” and spent lavishly on travel with Troconis who lived with him until they were arrested.
The attorneys are slated to have a trial conference with Noble on Nov. 21.
According to the warrants, police believe Fotis Dulos was “lying in wait” when Jennifer Dulos arrived home from dropping off their children at school around 8:05 a.m. May 24.
Police said two people resembling Fotis Dulos and Troconis were seen on video the night of the disappearance in Hartford. Fotis Dulos was also seen dumping bags that were later determined to contain his wife’s blood and clothing, according to arrest warrants.
Police said Fotis Dulos and Troconis also took a red Toyota Tacoma pickup truck belonging to a Fore Group employee to a car wash in the days after the disappearance.
Fotis Dulos also urged the employee to remove the seats, which he did but turned them over to investigators who found Jennifer Dulos’ blood on one of them, according to arrest warrants.
New Canaan police said in arrest warrants that two people resembling Fotis Dulos and Troconis were caught on video in Hartford the night Jennifer Dulos was reported missing dumping bags that were later found to contain his wife’s blood and clothing.