Ex-Erie trustee arrested in adoption agency probe

By Heath Urie (Contact)
Originally published 10:35 a.m., March 27, 2008
Updated 10:35 a.m., March 27, 2008

Boulder County Sheriff's Office

Lisa Novak

The CEO of a defunct Boulder-based international adoption agency was arrested late Wednesday at her Erie home on suspicion that she stole tens of thousands of dollars from hopeful adoptive families.

Lisa Novak, a former Erie trustee, faces charges that she stole more than $20,000 from one of her clients and between $500 and $15,000 from another family. Detectives also allege Novak wrote a bad check to a Guatemala adoption agency.

All of the charges are felonies, Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said today.

Novak was released from the Boulder County Jail this morning on $10,000 bond, officials said.

Boulder police began investigating the business practices of the Claar Foundation after it closed its doors in February in the face of mounting complaints and lawsuits.

In its various incarnations, the Claar Foundation — started by Novak and her husband, Martin Claar — has been successfully sued several times over its financial dealings. Novak and Claar operated several businesses from an office located at 4141 Arapahoe Ave.

Contacted this morning, Claar said neither he nor his wife wanted to comment about the case.

Novak in February said the claims against her and the company had “no validity,” and later wrote a letter to the Camera.

“There is nothing illegal in owning or operating more than one company,” Novak wrote in the Feb. 18 letter. “No assets were ever transferred from Claar Foundation to the other companies. A simple review of the audited financial records proves that. Likewise, there is nothing illegal about closing a business that is not financially viable.”

Novak is due in court on April 4.