NEW CITY – A Highland Mills man has been arrested and arraigned for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from his nephew’s lawsuit settlement money, set aside in several trusts following the death of the victim’s mother.

Elissaint Lafontant, 39, was charged with one count of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a felony.

The victim, who is 18 now but was a minor in 1993, was awarded $1.7 million when his mother died during surgery and his grandmother filed a lawsuit.  The money was put in trust for the child until he turned 18.

In 2003, the grandmother was hospitalized and the victim began to live with Lafontant, his uncle.  The grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and remained hospitalized until her death in 2008.

When the victim turned 18 last summer, he began to investigate his trusts and discovered large amounts of money were missing. The Rockland DA’s office investigated and determined Lafontant forged signatures and provided false information on documents provided to the Rockland county Surrogate’s Court. Those documents allowed him to withdraw money that the court believed was being used for the victim. The exact amount of money is being determined, but believed to be over $75,000.

The fraud began in 2003 and continued until 2007.

Lafontant and the victim are former Spring Valley residents who moved to Orange County recently.

Lafontant was arraigned and remanded to the Rockland County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or bond.