Writer Clark in a legal wrangler

TRENTON, New Jersey: Best-selling mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark is involved in a legal situation that rivals some of her works.

Clark, her two sons and several other investors are seeking to reclaim millions of dollars they lent to Wellesley Services LLC. Lawsuits filed against the Montvale company claim it's linked with a convicted con man accused of bilking several people while serving as a government informant.

The lawsuits accuse Wellesley of being a direct cash pipeline to Thomas Giacomaro, who lives in a $2.4 million Saddle River estate.

"I was shocked. ... Shocked is the only way you can describe it," Clark told The Record of Hackensack for Wednesday's editions. "I may have a great imagination, but I never could have invented him (Giacomaro)."

While the Clarks have not yet filed a lawsuit in the matter, they have hired a lawyer to work on recouping their investment and to investigate the allegations that Giacomaro siphoned cash from Wellesley.

The company, a mergers-and-acquisitions broker in the waste and transportation fields, has denied the claims made in lawsuits by other investors. Giacomaro and his lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Clark has authored nearly two dozen best sellers, with over 50 million copies of her books in print in the United States alone. --AP