Lawyer: Adoption Exec Is Scapegoat For Clients

BOULDER, Colo. -- A lawyer for a woman accused of bilking adoption clients out of thousands of dollars says her client is being made a scapegoat by people whose adoptions fell through.

Lisa Novak, 48, is on trial in Boulder on felony theft and fraud charges. Prosecutors say she failed to arrange adoptions and took the money clients had paid her.

Police said she ran the Claar Foundation adoption agency at 4141 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder. It closed in December 2007.

Defense attorney Lance Goff says Novak is innocent.

During opening statements on Tuesday, he said some of Novak's clients claimed they were scammed after they became worried when some countries, such as Guatemala, ended international adoptions.

Goff said the Claar Foundation lost its investments in those countries. He said clients were told their fees weren't refundable.

Novak is a former Erie Trustee.