Police Allege Pianist Defrauded Retirement Homes

A professional pianist from Thousand Oaks faces felony charges of extorting money from five Glendale retirement homes, two of them in Montrose. A Thousand Oaks man was released Tuesday afternoon from custody after being arrested on suspicion of defrauding five retirement facilities in Glendale, including two in Montrose.

Glendale police arrested Neil Elliott Dorval, 47, Jan. 31 on suspicion of extorting money from Montrose Nursing Center and Mountainview Retirement Residence in Montrose and three others in Glendale. Dorval allegedly threatened to file a lawsuit against the retirement facilities for alleged breaches of contracts.

Dorval faces five counts of attempted grand theft of personal property and five counts of forgery, all felonies.

Dorval posted bail on Tuesday and awaits a preliminary hearing at the Burbank Municipal Court House on March. 9.

“It is a sad day when you find someone who could be so low to con our retirement facilities out of what money they take in to care for our elders,” Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams said in a prepared statement. “What will be even sadder, will be the total number of victims we truly have out there.”

According to Glendale police, Dorval, a professional piano player, offered private lessons at rates of $100 to $185 an hour. He would then be hired to perform a number of shows without a contract.

When completing his shows, prior to leaving, he would request from an employee to sign a piece of paper indicating, for his records, that he had conducted a performance on that date, police said.

The blank piece of paper with a signature would turn up years later on a contract.

Dorval would then mail a payment letter stating the retirement facility is in breach of contract and requires payment. He would then threaten a law suit against the facility and individual whose signature appears on the contract, police said.

In each case the employee whose signature is on the alleged contract denies that they ever saw or signed a contract. Each does recall having signed and dated a piece of blank paper for Dorval, police said.

According to records, Dorval has been the plaintiff in 35 lawsuits in Ventura and L.A. counties since 1995. Ten of those lawsuits were filed against retirement facilities.

Search warrants were conducted on Dorval’s residence Jan. 31. Police allege they found evidence supporting his fraudulent activities was recovered including documents with signatures on blank paper.

Glendale police detectives arrested Dorval on suspicion of fraud. His bail was set at $200,000 at the time of his arrest.

The investigation is ongoing. Dorval was scheduled to appear in Burbank Municipal Court Tuesday.Photo Courtesy of the Glendale Police Department(LA)ARRESTED -- Neil Dorval, 47, of Thousand Oaks was arrested Jan. 31 on suspicion of extorting money from Montrose and Glendale retirement facilities when police uncovered evidence of fraudulent activities including blank pieces of paper with signatures, during a search warrant conducted on his home.20060210iudvyfnc(LA)