Embezzlement suspected at Hunger Free Vermont

The leader of Hunger Free Vermont says an employee embezzled thousands of dollars from the organization's reserve fund, deceiving fellow employees and auditors for about a decade.

Executive Director Marissa Parisi said in a statement Tuesday that she was "devastated" by the discovery.

Parisi declined to name the employee or discuss criminal charges until an FBI review is complete. The employee had "bookkeeping responsibilities" and had held the position for 11 years, she said.

The employee has been fired, but no criminal charges have been filed.

Eric Miller, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, confirmed Tuesday evening that his office is actively investigating the allegations in conjunction with the FBI.

A local bank flagged unusual activity in Hunger Free Vermont's account about a month ago, Parisi said, and the organization's board of directors began a review.

"We looked closer and found quite a few fraudulent checks that confirmed that embezzlement had happened and had been going on for a long time," Parisi said.

Hunger Free Vermont helps to set up meal programs for children in school and child care, speaks out on hunger-related issues in politics and supports the state's food stamp program, 3SquaresVT. The group was founded in 1993 and works out of an office in South Burlington.

Parisi said the embezzlement means Hunger Free Vermont lacks cash reserves that would normally cover four months of operating expenses. She declined to say how much money had been in the reserve fund.

The organization reported a budget of just over $1 million in documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service for 2013.

Program expansions will be delayed, Parisi said, and the group's 14 employees will not receive any raises this year.

"Our primary goal is to make sure we can keep our programs going," said Parisi, who joined the organization as executive director in 2009.

Parisi said she's unsure how the suspected embezzlement went on for so long.

"We're asking ourselves that as well," Parisi said. "We had audits from a professional audit firm every year, so this went undetected by the audit firm."

The organization is reviewing its financial practices with an external accountant.

“We’re a very effective organization. We’re known around the country and that’s why this is so difficult for us," Parisi said.

Parisi is working to rebuild donors' trust and said a separate fund has been established to rebuild the reserve fund and cover the costs of the investigation

Danville principal cited for embezzlement

A former Vermont principal of the year is facing charges of stealing from his current school.

About $1,600 went missing from the Danville school safe last week. Police say surveillance video shows Principal Edwin Webbley taking the money.
    
Webbley was the 2011 principal of the year when he worked at Vergennes Union High School. This is not his first brush with the law. In 2012, he was charged with DUI after crashing his car into his home in Bristol.

Edwin Webbley was cited to appear in Caledonia Court on March 23.

School secretary charged with embezzlement no longer with ABSS in Vermont

A former lead secretary charged with embezzling from the middle school where she worked, is no longer with the Alamance-Burlington School System.


Ruby Homer Blalock, 47,of 420 Hoover Road, Mebane, resigned from her job at Hawfields Middle School on Aug. 22, said ABSS public information officer Jenny Faulkner. According to the Mebane Police Department, Blalock was charged Thursday with two felony counts of embezzlement by a public official or trustee.

Blalock allegedly embezzled $650 in football camp funds and $580 in cheerleading camp and sponsorship funds that belonged to the school system, according to an arrest warrant.

She is accused also of embezzling $732.62 in payroll time between May 1 and Aug. 20 by submitting 44.67 hours of work on her time sheet that she didn’t work.

Lt. Jeremiah Richardson said ABSS’ central office contacted Mebane police with concerns about Blalock’s time sheets and “issues with some fundraising accounts” at the school.

Police said as part of her job, Blalock was responsible for depositing some of the money collected through school functions. She allegedly never deposited $1,230.

Faulkner said Blalock was lead secretary at Hawfields Middle School starting in August 2009, with an annual salary of $27,920.04. From March 1999 until May 2006, she was lead secretary at Williams High School.

After being interviewed by Mebane police, Blalock was later informed that charges had been filed, and she turned herself in to police.

She posted a $2,500 cash bond Thursday.

Board opts not to pursue additional restitution for embezzlement in Vermont

At Monday night’s meeting, the Readsboro School Board decided that nine months of court action was enough, and further restitution claims against former principal Michael Heller would not be pursued. Heller’s certificate to teach in Vermont, however, is something the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union and the school board would like to see revoked, and superintendent Christopher Pratt said that he requested the Agency of Education take action to make sure Heller does not teach in Vermont again. 

Heller pleaded guilty in July to embezzling more than $4,500 in school grant money from two separate grants, meant for expenditures on a school play and school security. Heller embezzled the funds over the course of seven months, using the money for personal expenditures such as hotel stays and trips to Dunkin’ Donuts and PetSmart. 

As part of a plea deal, Heller was ordered to pay back $4,500 in restitution, serve 100 hours of community service, and 18 months of probation. 

At an August school board meeting, members of the community asked the board to consider pursuing a civil suit for reimbursement of other items, including the installation of new security following his departure from the school. At the same meeting, Pratt told the board to ask for an increase in the restitution amount by nearly $300, a request that was ultimately denied.

“It would cost us more money to pursue further action in civil or small claims court than to get what we, or members of the community, want,” said Pratt. “The board voted to move on with the healing process. If we continue to dig this up, people won’t contribute to the healing. It’s not fair to the new principal if we are not able to get past what happened when we also have a lot to celebrate and move on with.”

At the August meeting, members of the community expressed concern over the issue of Heller’s certification remaining intact in the plea deal. 

Pratt called the AoE on Tuesday, and said they were well aware of the situation and had received the complaints against Heller. The AoE could not tell him what the outcome would be due to privacy issues. Pratt said that the matter of certification was most likely left out of the plea deal because it is up to the Agency of Education to take the initiative after a conviction. “It’s my understanding,” said Pratt, “if you hold that certification, there are certain things you’re expected to uphold. You don’t have to make part of a plea, because if they break the code of ethics, you have to have faith in the AOE holding up their end of it, and I assume that’s why it was not part of the guilty plea. That in mind, I’m assuming that at some point the AoE will be acting further in their end of it.”

Pratt said that pursuing the matter was based on the principle that the administration needs to be a trusted force in education. 

“A lot of damage has been done, and we want to build that trust up again,” said Pratt. “But we need to make sure no other school in Vermont has to worry about this happening again. It is our job to make sure we’ve done everything you can to make sure you look out for the rest of the community.”

Board chair Cherrie Giddings echoed Pratt, and said that it would be unconscionable to not do their due diligence in protecting others. 

“I feel it is important that everyone work together to create the best educational facilities and opportunities for all children, not just ours,” said Giddings. “Someone who committed a felony, I don’t think they should be in a leadership position in a school ever again. It was a bad mistake he made, but he shouldn’t work with kids and be trusted.”

Ex-UVM employee embezzled before in Vermont

Jody Farnham, a former University of Vermont employee who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of embezzlement, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Rutland — and court papers reveal UVM was not the first employer she was accused of taking advantage of.

According to a sentencing memorandum prepared by the prosecution, Farnham embezzled $3,000 as an employee of the Burlington School District, but the case went unreported to authorities because she paid the money back in full.

At UVM, according to court documents, Farnham embezzled at least $185,000 over a six-year period, largely by diverting tuition checks from enrollees in workshops offered by the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, a university entity for which she provided administrative support. Under the plea agreement, signed in November, Farnham agreed to pay back $185,000.

Apart from the tuition payments, a review of the institute's finances by the university's Office of Audit Services found UVM purchasing card transactions, expense reports and mileage claims paid without a documented business purpose. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples states in a court document that "the exact amount of the loss cannot be determined with absolute certainty."

Farnham, who worked for UVM from 2003 until 2013, was the institute's only administrative coordinator, the audit report stated, and she had responsibility for receiving cash payments and making purchases for the workshops.

In the government's sentencing memorandum, Waples cites Farnham's theft of "at least $200,000 from her employer" and recommends "imprisonment that does not exceed the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range." That range is 18 to 24 months.

Farnham has remained free since entering her plea.

Waples notes that Farnham "seems genuinely contrite for her crime" but also points out that "UVM is not the first employer Farnham betrayed." Prior to her employment at UVM, Farnham worked as an administrative assistant in Edmunds Elementary School, from May 1997 to May 2003.

Referring to a pre-sentence report that is excluded from the court's public record, Waples states that "Farnham previously 'resigned' from a job with the Burlington School District after she was caught embezzling about $3,000. The matter was not reported to the authorities because Farnham made full restitution — and that is probably why VIAC was unaware of that situation when it hired the defendant."

Farnham's lawyer, Robert Hemley, said Friday he would have no comment before the sentencing hearing. He said he had asked his client not to speak to the media before the court proceeding.

Burlington Sperintendent Jeanne Collins said there has been considerable turnover in the district's administrative ranks since 2003, and she could not comment on something alleged to have happened before she assumed the top job in 2005. She said that embezzlement is not condoned, and if a case had been uncovered under her watch, the allegations would have been reported.

Joseph McNeil, who was the attorney for the school district in 2003, said he had no recollection of such a matter.

In the defense's sentencing memorandum, Hemley asks for a prison term of six months, including three months' imprisonment and three months' community service. Hemley cites 24 supportive letters from friends, family and a post-UVM employer attesting to Farnham's character.

Hemley writes that the letters portray Farnham as "an accomplished, hard-working single parent who successfully raised three daughters.

"She understands that there is no excuse for the behavior which brings her to the Court for sentencing, and she makes none," Hemley's memo states. "She succumbed to the temptation to take money that did not belong to her in order to provide her daughters with comforts and necessities she could not otherwise have provided. She had little financial, and no emotional, support from her ex-husband, and she took what appeared to be an easy and available route to providing for her family."

The Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, part of UVM's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, offers consulting services to cheesemakers and provided workshops in cheesemaking. As an office program support specialist, Farnham received a salary of $30,649 in 2011-12, according to UVM's website.

A UVM investigation of the institute's finances began after Tom Vogelmann, dean of the college, received an anonymous letter in July 2012 alleging "redirection" of registration funds for the workshops. An inquiry by UVM police, in collaboration with Audit Services, put the "total amount of misappropriated funds at $230,841.74." Farnham resigned in February 2013. The FBI assigned an agent to the case in July 2013.

According to the auditing report, the institute's balance sheet was in the black just one year, 2008, from 2007 to 2013. The net profit that year was $25,046. Net losses in the other years ranged from $5,552 to $96,592. The total net loss over those years was $298,499.

Asked in January why financial problems weren't detected earlier, UVM spokesman Enrique Corredera replied: "Part of UVM's mission is to foster economic development. Such activity often requires subsidizing programs that lose money but which will lead to economic growth. That was the case with VIAC."

He added that "because VIAC was experimenting with different approaches to generating revenue and because of changing market circumstances, the unit's revenue picture changed significantly from year to year. That made it difficult to spot an anomaly in the absence of a steady and predictable revenue stream."

UVM has attributed a portion of the institute's recent losses to a decline in demand for cheesemaking workshops, which were discontinued in May 2013.

Farnham is the second former UVM employee in three years to be prosecuted for diverting payments for educational workshops. In May 2012, Celine Bernier pleaded guilty in Vermont Superior Court in Newport to a charge of embezzlement under an agreement that included a prison term of at least four months.

Bernier, a UVM Extension employee, took registration fees for state conferences for tax preparers and dairy farmers. Police investigators found that she channeled $45,800 in university money to her private account. In 2011, after Bernier had been charged, extension officials said they would tighten up fiscal practices and make sure that more than one person would be responsible for handling money.

Such remedies apparently failed to extend to another wing of the university, the Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese, where Farnham was solely in charge of the money. According to the auditors' report on the institute, covering 2007-13, "one employee was primarily responsible for all VIAC recordkeeping."

Asked what preventative measures UVM has taken, if any, Vice President for Finance Richard Cate replied in an email:

"There have been a variety of adjustments to our internal controls but the key initiative that will deal with this type of activity is the implementation of a centralized, automated non-credit registration system. We are currently reviewing responses to a RFP that will result in a January pilot and full implementation by July 1, 2015.

"This system will operate in the same manner as our for-credit system in that no one will be able to register for a class or program outside of the centralized system. Thus, the checks will have to come directly to the University in order for someone to be registered."

Readsboro, Vermont principal admits to embezzling

The former principal of the Readsboro Central School admitted on Monday to embezzling from the school but may evade a criminal record for the incident.

Michael W. Heller, 41, of Fairfax, pleaded guilty on Monday in Bennington criminal court to a felony charge of embezzlement. The state dismissed a misdemeanor charge of petty larceny.

As part of the plea agreement, Heller’s sentencing was delayed for 18 months. If he has no further legal problems, the charge will be expunged from his record.

Through his attorney, David Silver, Heller admitted on Monday to embezzling about $4,500 for his personal use from about $6,000 in grants that were awarded to the school last year.

Police released information about the embezzlement in January. Heller resigned from his position as principal of the school, where he had served for about a year, in December.

Former Readsboro Central School principal Michael Heller changed his plea to guilty in Bennington Criminal Court on Monday, admitting he embezzled more than $4,500 in school grant money over a period of seven months in 2013 for personal use. Through a plea deal accepted by Judge Nancy Corsones, the school district will be fully reimbursed, and Heller will have the opportunity to avoid a felony on his record.

The plea deal will allow Heller to avoid jail time by serving an 18-month deferred sentence on one felony charge of embezzlement, while a second charge of petit larceny was dismissed. Heller will be required to pay Readsboro School District $4,500 in restitution before August 14, and serve special conditions of probation including 100 hours of community service and mental health counseling. If Heller completes the 18-month probation period without incident, the felony embezzlement charge will be expunged from his record. Heller’s attorney, David Silver, told Corsones that the deal was the result of “lengthy, intense negotiations and fact finding.” To reach an agreement on a deferred sentence, state’s attorney Erica Marthage wanted to hear from the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union and the Readsboro School Board.

“What we did in connection with that was we had depositions (gathered) from the superintendent, the chair of the school board at the time, another member of the school board, and a collaborating principal from another school in the district,” said Silver. “The contents of the depositions were that Mr. Heller really was a transformative figure in that school and he was universally admired for the incredible work he was doing there, and how dedicated and hard-working he was. No one could believe that he did this really unfortunate act, they were shocked, and even after knowing they didn’t want to fire him.”

Principal of RCS for 16 months, Heller, 40, of Fairfax, was charged with embezzlement and petit larceny in January, following an investigation into the misuse of grant money from two different loans, one from Lowes for school improvements, the other from Macy’s for a school play. As previously reported, Heller opened a “principal’s account” at People’s United Bank unbeknown to the WSSU, and for which he was the only signatory. Heller used this account for personal shopping and expenses as well as hotel stays and food purchases. The account was discovered after an internal audit and an investigation were conducted by WSSU officials, and Heller was asked to provide bank statements and the transaction history of the account. 

According to a police affidavit, Heller took several weeks to respond to the request and instead provided computer-generated invoices from companies such as Qualified Hardware and Lorax, complete with the items purchased, their total cost, and their company logos. These invoices did not match the invoices provided by these companies, and featured drastic differences in cost. In all, 61 transactions were made on the account, of which $1,060.51 was used for security equipment at the school and $4,536.02 was used for personal purchases and withdrawals. “During the course of his administration of those funds, he converted them to his own use with the intent to replenish that money at some point, but that of course is not a legal defense for embezzlement,” said Silver. 

The state is dropping a count of misdemeanor petit larceny relating to the disappearance of approximately $200 in student lunch money, a charge Heller has consistently denied. Silver said that these claims made for catchy headlines, but were erroneously blamed on his client by Trooper Lauren Ronan, who wrote the police affidavit. Silver also said that while it does not excuse the crime, Heller used the money to help his mother pay a parking ticket and medical bills. 

“The level of shame and punishment from the public nature of the crime is significant in itself,” said Silver. “The level of shame and level of trauma this has caused him personally, financially, and to his family has been enormous and this is the consequence. In the age of Google he’s always going to have this on his record one way or another, but this gives him a chance to have somewhat of a clean start after he earns his way back.”

Corsones addressed Heller directly about the nature of the crime, and about the former Marine’s future. “I can tell from your demeanor that the shame Mr. Silver talks about is evident, it speaks volumes without speaking words,” said Corsones. “Since the current economic collapse in the last four years or so, the amount of crime of this sort is remarkable. To meet personal needs is not an excuse, and it’s not condoning anything, but the number of embezzlement crimes from otherwise law-abiding citizens has grown exponentially. 

“It’s really unfortunate because the people you disappointed most beyond your family, are children, and to live with that disappointment takes a strong person. It probably takes a Marine in terms of personal fortitude to deal with that kind of shame. I have no doubt you’ll not engage in this form of behavior again.”

A restitution judgment is yet to be held in the case, as well as sentencing.

Restitution at issue in embezzlement case in Vermont

A woman due for sentencing for embezzling more than $125,000 from Cold Hollow Cider Mill and Harwood Youth Hockey Association is willing to give up any interest she has in her former home to help pay restitution, her defense lawyer says.

Burlington attorney Brooks McArthur said Michelle Rutledge, 47, felt pressured to sign over any interest she had in the family home in South Duxbury after her husband filed for divorce in May.

He said Rutledge, who is unrepresented by a lawyer in the divorce case, soon learned she could have marital interest in the family home.

"The defendant is in the process of transferring her interest in the property to her husband without receiving compensation for the value of her interest," Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa A.D. Ranaldo said in a motion to try to block the move.

Federal Judge William K. Sessions III recently signed an emergency order stopping Jonathan Rutledge from taking full control of the Clark Road house, court records show.

Jonathan Rutledge, 40, declined commentto the Burlington Free Press.

The house was assessed at $206,000 during the last appraisal in Duxbury in 2006, according to the Town Clerk's Office.

Woman gets 2 years for embezzlement from Youth Hockey League

A Vermont woman has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to embezzling funds both from her employer and from a youth hockey league.

In January, 47-year-old Michelle Rutledge of Berlin pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro to wire fraud. Authorities say she embezzled money from the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury, where she worked as office manager and bookkeeper, and from the Harwood Youth Hockey Association, where she served as treasurer.

Authorities say Rutledge stole substantial sums by using credit cards without authorization, and by using her employer's and the hockey group's money to pay personal expenses.

Authorities say at least $75,000 was taken from the business and $53,000 from the hockey association. Rutland has to pay the amount back.


Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury Center is a popular tourist attraction in Vermont. The company known for apple cider and other sweet treats currently employs about 30 people. But a former bookkeeper left bitter feelings behind.


Michelle Rutledge, 47, of Berlin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in January, admitting to stealing $75,000 from the company. She was sentenced Tuesday in federal court.


"We were very pleased with the outcome," said Paul Brown of Cold Hollow Cider Mill.
Paul and Gayle Brown hired Rutledge in 2000 shortly after they bought the business. They were in court when the judge handed down the two-year sentence.


"It was no longer about stealing from the business anymore," Gayle Brown said. "It was what she did to our community at Cold Hollow. The immediate community of Waterbury, the hockey program community, her family, her daughter. She duped everybody."


Cold Hollow was not Rutledge's only victim. She was also the treasurer of the Harwood Youth Hockey Association, where she admitted to stealing another $54,000. But Paul Brown says her crimes were about more than just taking other people's money.


"Also, for 13 years she dealt with customers and vendors and employees and representing us as the face of our company, the whole time be a liar and fraud and a thief," he said.


Brown says Rutledge used the company's credit card and corporate accounts to purchase personal items, like digital cameras, iPads and laptops. They say a series of lies finally alerted them that the numbers were not adding up. And they offer advice to other business owners.
"If you ever get an answer that you don't feel is quite right from an employee and those instincts are going off, follow them," Gayle advised.


"It is a lot like closing the barn door after the horse got out, but truly now I really scrutinize our company credit card accounts," Paul said.


The Browns believe Rutledge stole far more than $75,000 from the business, but the federal statute of limitations only goes back six years. They say not surprisingly, the company's profit margin doubled the year after Rutledge stopped working there.


"If they are dishonest, they are going to find a way to get away with it for quite a while. And this woman was clever enough to get away with it for 13 years, but not clever enough to get away with it forever," Paul said. "And now she is going to pay for it."


Paying for it by serving time behind bars, justice for a business and a community that got taken for a costly ride.


Rutledge reports to prison next month with a judicial recommendation for placement in a halfway house as soon as possible. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims. WCAX News spoke with her by phone Tuesday afternoon, but she had no comment.

UVM employee pleads guilty to embezzlement

A former University of Vermont employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling from the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, where she provided administrative support.

Jody Farnham, 55, of Burlington, who co-wrote a book on cheesemaking, pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling at least $185,000 over six years ending in 2012, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Court documents say she was accused of altering tuition checks from enrollees in the cheesemaking program to make herself a co-payee and then depositing them in her bank account. She also stole some cash tuition payments and misused UVM credit cards for personal purchases, federal prosecutors said.

The embezzlement took place when UVM had received substantial amounts of federal funding, the U.S. attorney’s office said. The case was investigated by UVM police and the FBI.

Farnham, who was released on conditions, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when she is sentenced in June.

School board faces questions about principal and money management in Vermont

A few residents attended the Readsboro school board meeting on Monday, hoping to get answers following the arrest of former principal Michael Heller on embezzlement and larceny charges. But there was little the board, WSSU superintendent Richard McClements, and WSSU finance chief Karen Atwood would comment on. Members of both the board and the WSSU expressed concern about jeopardizing any part of the ongoing legal proceedings, or facing legal action should they provide speculative information.

School board chair Larry Hopkins did, however, say that the school would be seeking retribution for the over $4,500 that was misappropriated. “The short answer is yes,” said Hopkins, “but how we’re going to get there I don’t know yet.” Hopkins also said the board has not been informed as to what degree they’ll be involved with the court case.

One resident, Cherrie Giddings, worked on the production of the school play “Yes, Virginia,” for which the school had received a $1,000 grant from Macy’s. “My concern is that I worked on the play, and we received a $1,000 grant,” said Giddings. “A lot of people had to do extra work and use their time and volunteered and donated time because there was no money, yet there was money, but someone else got it.”

“There are a couple other instances where people may have had money come up short,” responded Hopkins. “If we get the money back we’re going to take steps to make sure everyone is taken care of.” Hopkins also said that it was too early to tell whether Macy’s or Lowe’s, which gave the school a $5,000 grant, would seek retribution.

“We have to wait until the investigation and the court play out first,” said board member Dana Rapp. “If there was malfeasance, this board would want nothing more than to balance those accounts.”

Molly Frost asked how the alleged embezzlement went unnoticed. Hopkins said a previous superintendent had advised the principal on how to open a bank account independent of the central office, and over time it lost the oversight of the WSSU. “The two people involved with starting it are not here, and this is how it ended.”

Because of the detailed nature of the investigation, as well as the court case currently in progress against Heller, McClements said that he was told not to expect an expedited court process. “We can’t tell you about these things,” said McClements. “We can’t get into those kinds of discussions. All you need to know is that it was turned over to the police, they’re investigating, and the Agency of Education is also investigating. It will play itself out and I believe there will be justice. I know you want to hear more and I know you want to hear details but we can’t.”

McClements did assure that there would be no more principal-controlled grants or accounts and all grants, invoices, bank statements, and purchase orders will go through the WSSU central office.

As for the $200 in lunch money that Heller is accused of stealing, Hopkins said that he wasn’t sure that the money’s disappearance could be pinned on anybody. Atwood said that after the money started to disappear, steps were taken to deliver the money to the town office sooner.

Atwood also said an audit was not finished on the grants received because they could not find evidence of the grant revenue being received.

“Even if it hadn’t turned out the way we found it, there would have been a red flag in the audit report saying ‘Where is this money and have you received this money?’ said Atwood. ‘If so where is it?’ It would have come up eventually.”

“It’s more about looking backward at what we could have done differently and about being vigilant,” said Rapp. “If, through the court proceedings, the principal is found guilty, I think we need to think as a board about how much faith we had in this man. I think we need to be a little more critical.”
Former Readsboro Central School principal Michael Heller pleaded not guilty in Bennington Criminal Court on Monday to a felony charge of embezzlement, and the theft of approximately $200 in student lunch money.

Heller, 40, of Fairfax, pleaded not guilty to embezzling over $4,000 from two separate grants that equaled $6,000, one from Lowe’s for school security improvements, another from Macy’s for a production of “Yes, Virginia.”

Heller resigned as principal of RCS at a school board meeting on December 16, 2013, after less than two years on the job. According to an affidavit written by state trooper Lauren Ronan, in that time, Heller is accused of diverting $4,536 in grant money for personal use out of the “principal’s account,” a bank account that Heller kept at People’s United Bank, unbeknown to the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union’s central office. This “principal’s account” is where the school district began to unravel Heller’s alleged activities.

According to the affidavit, the investigation began after WSSU superintendent Richard McClements contacted state police on December 19, 2013, to report that the school district as well as the Readsboro School Board suspected Heller had misused funds awarded to the school through grants. McClements made the report after he and WSSU business manager Karen Atwood conducted a five-week investigation into what they suspected was the misappropriation of funds at RCS.

The suspicions arose when Atwood ordered an internal audit of school expenses in November, after discovering that money from three grants had been deposited into the principal’s account. Atwood became suspicious after $94 given to the school by Target had been deposited into the Readsboro School Activity Account, which is monitored by the district’s central office.

According to the affidavit, after finding out about the principal’s account, for which Heller was the only signatory, Atwood confronted Heller and asked him to provide bank statements and the transaction history of the account. Heller took several weeks to supply this information, as well a list of items he had bought for the school, but the purchases listed did not match the bank statements provided by Heller.

Readsboro Town Clerk Amber Holland was asked by the Readsboro School Board to look at the “principal’s account” as a neutral third party. Holland compared transaction histories supplied by Heller with transaction histories provided by the central office, and also looked at bank statements between May and November 2013. Holland contacted two vendors for information pertaining to two separate purchases and concluded that the amount purchased from these vendors did not match the information submitted by Heller, according to Ronan.

According to the affidavit, Heller provided an invoice from May 15, 2013, in which he purchased $1,499 in security equipment from Lorex. The invoice provided by Lorex was for a total of $464.44. The other invoice was from June 6, 2013, when Heller spent $2,590 at Qualified Hardware. The invoice from that company totaled only $763. Another invoice Holland looked at was for $937.34 spent on Amazon.com for a wireless headset system. According to the bank statement, only $159.52 was actually spent on a cheaper model.

Heller provided computer-generated invoices from Qualified Hardware and Lorax, complete with the items purchased, their total cost, and the company logos. According to Ronan, these invoices didn’t match the computer-generated invoices provided by these companies. “It was obvious by the information provided to me that Heller had made up the invoices in an attempt to cover up his personal purchases,” said Ronan.

Heller’s alleged embezzlement activities spanned a six-month period in which 61 transactions were made. According to court documents, the purchases begin in May 2013 with two transactions, one at Anchor Seafood, the other at Rite Aid. In June, Heller made 17 transactions, 10 of which were for $100 or more. These purchases were made at Walmart, Pet Meds Corp. and the Days Inn Hotel, while six transactions under $100 were made at gas stations, Dunkin’ Donuts, Christmas Tree Shops, Home Depot, and Price Chopper. Ronan mentions one legitimate transaction in June for $763 for security equipment at Qualified Hardware.

In July, the number of transactions reached a peak at 18, with 13 for purchases under $100. Heller allegedly made purchases again at Price Chopper with cash back, as well as purchases at gas stations, convenience stores, and hardware stores. Transactions of over $100 included one at Killington Lodge, and multiple cash withdrawals. Another legitimate purchase of security equipment was made in July as well.

In August, nine transactions were made, four of which were cash withdrawals of over $100, while in September, six transactions of under $100 were made at convenience stores, gas stations, and Rite Aid.

Fifteen transactions were recorded in the month of October, 14 of which were under $100, and in November, six transactions were made including cash withdrawals and gas/convenience store purchases.

In all, Ronan said that of $6,094 deposited into the account, $1,060.51 was used for security equipment at the school, and $4,536.02 was used for personal purchases and withdrawals. In an interview with Ronan on January 6, Heller admitted to misappropriating the grant money, as well as forging transaction receipts and bank histories. According to the affidavit, “Heller advised he had every intention of placing the money back into the account,” with money received through the Wings after-school program as well as operating his own lawn care business during the summer months.

During his interview with Ronan, Heller said he took the funds because he and his mother both suffer from health issues, causing them financial strain. Heller said he had given his mother approximately $1,046 to help her pay off nearly $1,500 in motor vehicle fines as well.

As for the lunch money, Ronan conducted interviews with the school’s secretary Patricia Kidney, who said she began to suspect Heller of stealing student lunch money during the 2012-2013 school year, when small amounts of money began to go missing. Kidney said that students and parents would drop off lunch money at her desk, which she kept in an unlocked location, and turned in to the town office on Fridays. As the totals began to come up short, Kidney said she supplemented the shortfalls with her own cash, and when she approached Heller about the missing money, he advised her not to worry, saying the Power Lunch Program, a QuickBooks type of program, would even the money out. Kidney said that one time she had found a students’ empty lunch money envelope in Heller’s desk, after Heller claimed he had put it on Kidney’s desk.

Heller has denied stealing any lunch money. According to published reports, Heller’s attorney, David Silver, said that there is no evidence placing blame on Heller and that the person responsible for the money should be the prime suspect in its disappearance.

Heller told Ronan that he was aware of the lunch money theft from the previous school year, but not from the current one.

McClements said that insinuation is neither believed nor supported by the WSSU and the school board. “We want to be clear in that we believe she (Kidney) had absolutely nothing to do with the misappropriation of any funds,” said McClements. Over the course of her investigation, Ronan also contacted a former employer of Heller’s, the North Carolina public school system. Ronan spoke to a former supervisor of Heller’s, Ron Villines, who claimed that several items Heller had put as his responsibilities on his resume were not true. He also said that Heller had once run an expensive field trip for students in which he collected between $500 and $1,000 and failed to follow school protocol in handing in the money. Villines said Heller instead kept the money in his desk and one day “it all went missing,” and they never found out who was responsible.

According to published reports, Silver said the police information about Heller’s previous job is likewise irrelevant, and that there is no information regarding the missing money or of Heller ever being suspected of its disappearance.

Accusation of embezzlement

A total of at least $185,000 was embezzled by a UVM employee over a six-year period ending in late 2012, according to the Burlington Free Press.

Jody Farnham, an employee of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, recently pleaded guilty to a federal charge of embezzlement the Burlington Free Press said.

As an employee, Farnham provided administrative support to theVermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, according to the Burlington Free Press.

The Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese provides educational, research and consulting assistance to cheesemakers. 

It also offers courses and workshops in artisan cheesemaking, theBurlington Free Press said according to the charging document.

The institute aims to help make the cheesemaking industry more self sustaining, and make it more robust, according to TomVogelmann, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. 

According to the Burlington Free Press, Farnham altered the tuition checks of enrollees in the cheesemaking program at the University and made herself a co-payee. 

She then deposited the checks into her personal bank account.  

In addition, Farnham is accused of embezzling cash tuition payments from enrollees and using UVM credit cards for her own personal purchases, according to Burlington Free Press.

An anonymous letter was received July 17, 2012, “alleging redirection” of registration funds for the institute’s workshops, according to a statement from Vogelmann in a Burlington Free Press article.

After the anonymous letter was received, “we started an investigation of the finances,” Vogelmann said. 

According to Vogelmann, UVM auditors received that record, and eventually called upon UVM police to assist with the investigation.

The FBI also assigned an agent to work on the case July 19, 2013.

Farnham resigned Jan. 28, 2013, effective Feb. 15, 2013, Enrique Corredera, a University spokesman, said.

The institute’s losses rose to $243,343, according to Corredera. 

Vogelmann attributed recent losses to a drop in the demand for workshops, and he pointed out the institute ran up a shortfall of about $50,000 after the alleged embezzlement had ended.

When asked why the embezzlement wasn’t detected sooner, Corredera said. “Part of UVM’s mission is to foster economic development. Such activity often requires subsidizing programs that lose money but will lead to economic growth. That was the case with VIAC.”

Corredera added that the Vermont Institute of Agriculture’s inconsistent profit and lack of a constant flow of revenue made it difficult to notice the embezzlement.

“It’s surprising to me that someone would do this,” Alison Staffin, a first-year CALS student said.

Contrary to Farnham’s actions, University employees are typically thought of as people who are looking to help students, Staffin added. 

There needs to be a higher rigor of security regarding how finances are handled, according to Vogelmann. 

A new layer of extra control will be implemented. In addition, extra time and money will be spent on the security of the finances, according to Vogelmann. 

The Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese has now shifted its focus to science and research, mainly regarding issues in food safety, according to Vogelmann.

This research is a  “critical need for the cheese industry,” said Vogelmann, due to the fact that there is a shift in clientele, as most Vermont cheese artisans are already sufficiently trained, and most of the artisans at the workshops were from out of state. 

“It’s very unfortunate that we had this incident occur, but it’s really a small part of the overall activity,” said Vogelmann. 

Principal charged with embezzlement, stealing students’ lunch money in Vermont

Former Readsboro Central School principal Michael Heller turned himself into state police Monday, following an investigation into misused funds from two grants the school received in 2013.

Heller, 40, of Fairfax, faces charges of embezzlement, fraud, and petit larceny after police investigated the misuse of more than $4,000 in grants, which police say Heller used for personal expenses such as hotels, food, and shopping. After interviewing the principal’s secretary, police say they also found evidence that Heller had allegedly pocketed around $200 in student lunch money.

The investigation began after Windham Southwest Supervisory Union superintendent Richard McClements contacted state police to report suspected fraud and embezzlement following a financial audit. McClements said that the WSSU had asked Heller for invoices related to expenses from two grants that totaled approximately $4,000. All school district business offices are required to review expenditures from grants, however, according to McClements, the district was not being provided statements, only excuses for their absence.

Following a set deadline, the district accessed the bank statements from the grant account and saw the financial transactions on the account were clearly not for their intended purposes. According to police, after Heller was questioned by the Readsboro School Board, he provided a manufactured list of transactions in an attempt to cover up illegal activity, one that was obviously not a bank original, according to McClements. This in turn has resulted in charges of forgery.

Heller, who had been RCS principal for 16 months, resigned at a school board meeting on Monday, December 16. According to a letter sent to educators and staff at the school on Tuesday, December 17, Heller resigned to focus on health and family, and it was with a “heavy heart” that he was leaving. When Heller was hired he described Readsboro as a school in a rebuilding stage, one that needed to focus on both community and accountability.

According to State Trooper Lauren Ronan, the two grants Heller is accused of siphoning money from include a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant for school improvement projects, and a $1,000 theater grant from Macy’s, intended to help fund the school’s production of “Yes, Virginia.” While Trooper Ronan would not specify how many individual transactions were made and in what amounts, she said that in Vermont, each count of embezzlement of over $100 is a felony. Ronan did say that the number of transactions related to the embezzlement charges was in double digits.

While McClements would not speak about Heller’s resignation, as it is a personnel issue, he did say that having a principal, or any employee, charged with a serious offense is a major disappointment. “One of the things that made America the great nation it is is the public school system,” said McClements. “It gives all children the opportunity to rise above whatever state their families may have come from, and become whatever they choose to be through hard work. So we have a sacred trust to run our organization for the benefit and good of the children, and what’s disappointing is when some individual crosses that line. It’s a betrayal of our responsibility to children.”

Heller was processed and released and cited to appear in Bennington Superior Court on January 27. Heller could not be reached for comment. Readsboro School Board members also refused to comment.

UVM employee accused of embezzlement

A former University of Vermont employee who worked with campus police on criminal investigations was charged Tuesday with embezzlement from UVM.

Daniel S. Austin, 47, of Jericho is charged with stealing $9,860 from inactive accounts in the UVM Cat Card system. The debit-like cards track information including purchases, meal plans, building access and discounted services at some locations.

UVM police said they identified 68 victims and 348 transactions from October 2012 until July.

Austin, who was hired in 2006, was a senior equipment technician for the Cat Card office but is no longer employed at UVM, spokesman Enrique Corredera said Tuesday evening.

Austin was trained to run reports and to locate dormant accounts each year for the Cat Card system, which also provides services to Champlain and St. Michael’s colleges and to Norwich University, the police said.

UVM police said nothing about the embezzlement complaint in July or when investigators cited Austin Sept. 29 and ordered him to appear in criminal court.

UVM police issued a brief news release Tuesday, the day of his arraignment, after court had closed for the day stating that Austin was arraigned.

Austin told the Burlington Free Press in a phone interview Tuesday night that he hopes to work out a resolution in the case. He said he pleaded not guilty to the charge in Vermont Superior Court, was appointed a public defender to represent him and was released on conditions.

Corredera later released a four-page affidavit from investigating officer Bill Sioss.

“I have worked with Austin many times over my career, often times he assisted the UVM Police in obtaining information relative to ongoing criminal investigations,” Sioss wrote in a sworn affidavit.

The Cat Card office also is responsible for maintaining most surveillance cameras on the UVM campus, Sioss stated.

UVM police said workers at the Maplefields store on Williston Road in South Burlington became concerned in July about suspicious transactions, including whether lottery purchases were authorized under the program.
The Cat Card office later called UVM police, and a full investigation began.

When a student, faculty or staff member is no longer affiliated with UVM or one of the other institutions served by the Cat Card due to retirement, graduation or resignation, the card becomes inactive, Sioss stated.

Each year, UVM then attempts to refund the money remaining on the card, minus a $10 processing fee, police said.

Austin would run reports in the Cat Card office looking for inactive accounts with a balance, Sioss stated. He also had the ability to delete those with a balance.

Sioss stated Maplefields was aware of five transactions from July 1-21 that totaled $960, and the store provided video surveillance for four of the case. The video showed Austin making the transactions, but the purchases showed up on inactive accounts, police said.

Investigators learned that Austin had the ability to change his own account to any of the dormant accounts to allow him to make purchases with the unused funds, Sioss stated.

Corredera, the UVM spokesman, said the university decided that it would make refunds to the victims. He said most were associated with UVM at one time, but others were at Champlain College.

“We decided to make all the people whole. UVM will issue checks,” he said. “Obviously we have taken steps to tighten up the system in an effort to make it unlikely to happen in the future.”

A former University of Vermont employee has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of embezzlement — a case that began, officials said, with the receipt 18 months ago of an anonymous letter.

Jody Farnham, a UVM employee who provided administrative support to the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, embezzled at least $185,000 during a six-year period ending in late 2012, according to a charging document on file at U.S. District Court in Burlington. She is accused of having done so by altering tuition checks from enrollees in the cheesemaking program to make herself a co-payee, the document alleges, and then depositing the checks in her own bank account.

Farnham also is accused of embezzling cash tuition payments given to her by enrollees and of using UVM credit cards to make personal purchases. This is the latest in a series of embezzlement cases to emerge in Vermont public institutions during the past several years.

In an agreement signed Nov. 25, 2013, and filed in court this week, Farnham agreed to plead guilty to the allegations. The charging document, dated Sunday, includes a forfeiture notice, under which Farnham, if convicted, would have to pay back $185,000. Asked about the lag between the plea agreement’s signing and the Monday court filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples declined comment.

A listed phone number for Farnham could not be found Wednesday. A phone message and an email to her attorney, Robert Hemley, were not returned.

The Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese provided educational, research and consulting assistance to cheesemakers and offered courses and workshops in artisan cheesemaking, according to the charging document. Farnham was employed by UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as an office program support specialist. Her annual salary in 2011-12 was $30,649, according to UVM’s website.

Farnham was co-author with Marc Druart of “The Joy of Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Making and Eating Fine Cheese” (Sky Horse Publishing, 2011). The book jacket identifies her as the program coordinator and administrative director for the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, and Druart as the institute’s master cheesemaker.

Tom Vogelmann, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said he received an anonymous letter July 17, 2012, “alleging redirection” of registration funds for the institute’s workshops.

“We started an investigation of the finances at that time,” Vogelmann said. Records were turned over to UVM auditors, who eventually called in UVM police to investigate, he said.

Farnham resigned Jan. 28, 2013, effective Feb. 15, 2013, according to Enrique Corredera, university spokesman. The FBI assigned an agent to the case July 19, 2013.

Institute losses
The institute stopped offering regular workshops in May 2013. According to the institute’s page on the UVM website, the need for the workshops diminished as cheesemaking expertise grew in Vermont. The page states that the workshops had been partially paid for by federal earmark money — dollars that eventually ran out. Tuition fees were the other main source of workshop funding.

Vogelmann said the institute’s finances fluctuated during the past six or seven years — sometimes running in the black, and sometimes significantly in the red.

The institute’s losses rose to $243,343, according to Corredera.

Vogelmann attributed recent losses to a drop in the demand for workshops, and he pointed out the institute ran up a shortfall of about $50,000 after the alleged embezzlement had ended. In lieu of workshops, he said, the institute is focusing on consulting and research, with particular interest in issues of food safety.

He said the workshop program served its purpose as an economic-development program in the years after the institute was founded in 2004, with the result that artisan cheese comprises a strong industry in Vermont, “something we can all be proud of.”

Asked why the embezzlement, which the authorities say spanned six years, wasn’t detected sooner, Corredera replied via email: “Part of UVM’s mission is to foster economic development. Such activity often requires subsidizing programs that lose money but which will lead to economic growth. That was the case with VIAC.” He added that the institute’s fluctuating proceeds and the absence of a steady revenue stream made it difficult to notice an anomaly.

Farnham, 54, began working for UVM in July 2003.

Conviction on the federal charge of embezzlement, a felony, can draw a prison term of up to 10 years and a fine of $250,000.

In the plea agreement, federal prosecutors pledged to recommend a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range and reiterated that the U.S. is entitled to a forfeiture of $185,000.

Federal prosecutors had jurisdiction because UVM received federal benefits amounting to more than $10,000 during the six-year period.

The case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss. A hearing regarding the plea agreement is yet to be scheduled.

'Deeply disappointed'
This was the second case of alleged embezzlement at UVM to emerge in the past two months. In December, a former employee of UVM’s Cat Card office was charged with having stolen $9,860 from inactive accounts. Daniel S. Austin told the Free Press he had pleaded not guilty and hoped to work out a resolution of the case.

Corredera also issued the following statement by email Wednesday:

“We are deeply disappointed that our trust was so fundamentally violated, but at the same time we are confident that we are doing all we can to reduce embezzlement risk to a minimum. We are implementing a centralized online registration system for non-credit courses to address this area of vulnerability.

“Additionally,” Corredera continued, “the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is taking all the necessary steps to strengthen its system of checks and balances across all its operations. Ultimately, this is about risk management, not risk elimination. Our people are our most valuable resource, and we consider this to be a rare case.”

Hockey association, tourist attraction investigated for embezzlement in Vermont

An investigation into embezzlement complaints at Cold Hollow Cider and the Harwood Youth Hockey is now being worked jointly by the Vermont State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

State Police records show a criminal complaint was initially filed June 6 about missing funds at Cold Hollow, one of the best known tourists stops in Central Vermont.

As the investigation developed, information led to questions about financial dealings at Harwood Youth Hockey, also known as the Friends of Harwood Hockey, officials said. Police said the FBI was recently consulted and is now part of the joint investigation.

Attempts by the Burlington Free Press to reach one suspect in the investigation were unsuccessful. Two phone messages left at the person’s residence were not returned. A person answering the phone the second time said the suspect would not be commenting.

Tris Coffin, the U.S. Attorney from Vermont, declined comment on the investigation.

Federal officials normally does not get involved in embezzlement cases until at least $100,000 is thought to be missing.

Paul Brown, the owner of Cold Hollow, told the Burlington Free Press he would issue a statement after an arrest is made in the criminal case.

“As soon as one is made, I will have a full statement,” he said. Until that time, Brown said he will allow investigators to do their work.

Multiple attempts to reach officials from Harwood Youth Hockey were unsuccessful.

The association’s budget will be discussed at a public board meeting 6 p.m. July 10th at the American Legion on Stowe Street in Waterbury.

The association was formed in 1980 as a non-profit for the teaching of boys and girls in the towns of Waterbury, Duxbury, Moretown, Waitsfield, Warren and Fayston about the game of hockey, according to its website.

The Ice Center of Washington West, which opened in 2003, is the home rink for the association.

Embezzlement complaints involving more than $100,000 in funds at Waterbury’s Cold Hollow Cider Mill and Friends of Harwood Hockey have prompted a federal investigation, several sources confirmed to the Waterbury Record Tuesday. Friends of Harwood Hockey is the 501c3 nonprofit title for Harwood Youth Hockey.
Yesterday, the Burlington Free Press reported online that both the Vermont State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are looking into the allegations following a criminal complaint June 6.

“As soon as there is an indictment or an arrest I will be happy to talk,” Paul Brown, owner of Cold Hollow, told the Waterbury Record Tuesday.
When asked if the subject of the investigation is affiliated with both Cold Hollow and Harwood Youth Hockey, Brown said, “I can’t say, but you can connect the dots.”
Brown confirmed that the person being investigated is a former employee of Cold Hollow Cider Mill, and that the case collectively involves more than $100,000 in funds. He said both he and Harwood Youth Hockey noticed a problem “over a month ago.”
According to Friends of Harwood Hockey’s federal 990 tax form, the organization’s expense budget totaled $57,205 in 2012.
“It’s going to be awhile,” before the investigation is completed, Brown said. “The FBI is involved and they like to go digging a lot more.”
Angela Wells, president of the hockey organization, declined to comment on the case while it is under investigation.
“Harwood Youth Hockey is cooperating fully with the investigation,” she said.
Wells said the case would not affect the upcoming hockey season, which begins in October. Children up to age 15 compete through the program at the Ice Center of Washington West. The arena is run by an unaffiliated nonprofit.
Harwood Youth Hockey will not discuss the investigation at its July 10 board meeting at the American Legion in Waterbury, Wells said.
Neither Vermont State Police nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office responded to calls by press time. According to sources, no arrest has been made.

Embezzlement: Has it become part of our culture?

FROM www.benningtonbanner.com:

The following was noted in the Spring 2012 issue of the Vermont Bar Journal:

"Vermont is the number one state in the nation for embezzlement thefts from corporations and nonprofits. In fact we may well be on our way to another dubious number one ranking: for thefts by fiduciaries from estates of all types -- guardianships, decedents’ estates -- and by agents acting under powers of attorney. It appears that living well on other people’s money has become a way of life for some Vermonters."

And how prophetic a statement: the Bennington Banner reported on April 13, that Robert Baker, reached a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office. He was accused of diverting for his personal use $171,000 from the estate of Nada Lodinko.

To the listing of corporations and nonprofits, I would to add, unfortunately, municipalities.

No matter the institution, the embezzlers’ pedigree or the motivation, embezzlement has become an epidemic. Even long established collegiate institutions have not avoided the hurt to their finances and reputation from the evil deeds of former trusted employees.

Westchester County’s Iona College, saw Sister Marie Thornton (yes a nun) plead guilty to having embezzled $850,000 from Iona where she had been the college’s V.P. of Finance. All of the money was used to satisfy a gambling addiction. For her ill-gotten gains she was sentenced, in late 2011, to 2,000 hours of community service.

Dartmouth College’s former auditor, 79-year-old Vermonter, Bruce McAllister, allegedly betrayed his fellow employees at the New Hampshire college by stealing over $800 thousand. If it is any consolation, the Dartmouth alum will pay back the money once his 18-month sentence is complete.

Closer to home, in Bennington, and much more tragic was the recent announcement that James Beckwith, with a tenure of seven years as Southern Vermont College’s CFO/COO, allegedly embezzled over $500,000 from the college. Much about this embezzlement will never be known. The 58-year-old alleged embezzler took his life with a self -inflicted gunshot wound in February 2013.

On March 25, the Rutland Herald reported that Karen Brisson, the long serving Weybridge Town Clerk and Treasurer, admitted, that over a six-year period, she stole $400,000 from her town.

Soon, she might very well be joining, Sherry Roebuck of Guildford, who on Feb. 17, was given an 18-month prison sentence for embezzling $80,000 from the Algiers Fire District. The Herald also reported on April 14, that in Fairhaven, Denis Ballard was charged for allegedly taking $150,000 from her employer, a local store.

Nor are Vermont’s neighboring towns immune to the wrongful deeds of employees. On March 12, Virginia DiCapria, the former Treasurer of Charlton, N.Y. (near Saratoga) admitted embezzling nearly $500,000 from the Charlton volunteer fire department. And in nearby Troy, N.Y., in December 2012, Dennis Bassal, the former executive director of a nonprofit agency, was charged with allegedly stealing $200,000 from his employer, Father Young’s Rehabilitation Center.

Unfortunately, there are many more that could be detailed here -- to what end? Can embezzlement be stopped? Not really, but it can be curtailed and to do so we need to make real changes to the culture in how we approach this epidemic.

Heading the list is what forensic auditors refer to as "setting the tone" by those who have the responsibility of overseeing an organization’s funds -- and they need formal training. For example, New York State’s school board trustees are required to obtain six hours of continuing education in financial matters. Furthermore, those at the "top" must get involved. But too many fail to do so, just ask any convicted embezzler.

Second, is to recognize that "I have trust in our financial person" as is so often heard. Trust is a feeling and is absolutely not a financial control.

Third, if a town or nonprofit organization does not have the money to invest in overseeing its finances seek outside help from the Vermont State Auditors office, the Vermont CPA Society, the League of Cities and Towns, or from volunteers.

And fourth, the judicial system must see to it that convicted embezzlers served time in prison, made to pay back what was stolen and yes, pay the federal and state income taxes due on their ill-gotten gains. Every organization that is embezzled should issue a Form 1099 (similar to a W-2) to the convicted embezzler.

Vermont has gained the reputation of being first in America in so many worthwhile areas -- its time we shed our reputation of being first in embezzlements. It should not be part of our culture.

Treasurer of PTO accused of embezzlement in Vermont

Vermont State Police say the treasurer of the Richford Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization is facing an embezzlement charge.

Police say 35-year-old Shawna Steinhour has been cited to appear in court on May 20 following a one-month investigation.

Police on Thursday did not reveal how much she's accused of embezzling and did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Steinhour said she had no comment on the charge.

One day after a Richford Elementary School teacher was ordered to appear in criminal court for a felony embezzlement charge, her school district confirmed Friday that she has been put on paid leave from her teaching duties.

Shawna Steinhour, 35, took an estimated $3,500 while serving as treasurer for the Richford Parent Teacher Organization from October 2011 to March 22, Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Edward Meslin said.

“The teacher will not be present at school until the matter is more thoroughly investigated,” Franklin Northeast School Superintendent Jay Nichols during an an update Friday. Nichols had said Thursday that Steinhour was still in the classroom, but it was subject to ongoing review.

Nichols told the Burlington Free Press that Steinhour will be on an indefinite paid leave from the school, which is on spring break next week.

Nichols said state law allows him to put teachers on paid leave. He said he met with Steinhour on Friday to give her the news.

Attempts to reach Steinhour or her husband, Wally, who serves on the town School Board, have been unsuccessful.

Steinhour, who is a first-grade teacher, has worked for Richford Elementary School for nine years. She previously worked for Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

She is due in Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans on May 20.

Outcry in Richford over a Parent-Teacher Organization treasurer and teacher accused of embezzling thousands from PTO funds. Now some residents are calling for the woman's husband to resign from the school board.

Shawna Steinhour denied the embezzlement charges last week, but court records show her husband, who sits on the Richford School Board, may have had a hand in the money issues, too. Wally Steinhour is not facing any charges. That's something that's not sitting well with the PTO and some parents.

According to the board, Wally Steinhour has recused himself since his wife was accused of embezzlement. Some members of the PTO feel that's not enough.

"When somebody takes out a loan to cover up monies that have been stolen-- and they were stolen; it's a fact-- it just doesn't sit right with us," said PTO member Marie Destefano.

Some at the meeting called for Wally Steinhour to be fired since court documents revealed he took out a personal loan and used it to pay back the thousands of dollars his wife, Shawna, is accused of embezzling. She is both a first-grade teacher and elementary school PTO treasurer. Prosecutors say she used the money to shop online and go to the hair salon. Parents say if he tried to cover it up, he can't be trusted anymore.

"It was kind of slipped in there and none of us knew until we checked bank records," Destefano explained. "And that's where we found it a little under the table," she says of Steinhour's actions.

But Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Jay Nichols made it clear there's nothing anyone can do to remove Wally Steinhour from his position.

"From a legal perspective, any elected official or school board member is an elected official. Unless they resign or lose in the next election, they have a right to that seat," Nichols said at the meeting.

Technically, Wally Steinhour could resume his position at any time, but he wouldn't be allowed to take part in hearings about his wife's standing as an employee. She's on paid administrative leave.

Though Wally Steinhour's position is safe, the board could decide to fire Shawna Steinhour because she is an employee, not an elected official,  regardless of the outcome of the criminal charges.

"If they can prove just cause they can terminate an employee," Nichols explained. "The employee can be found innocent or guilty-- doesn't matter. The board still has the right to make that decision."

Wednesday night, in a closed-door executive session, the superintendent gave his recommendation to the board on what to do about Shawna Steinhour. The board could decide to keep her on paid administrative leave, to terminate her contract, to ask her to resign, or could return her to regular status. It's a process that will require hearings and could take quite some time. Wally Steinhour is not facing any criminal charges at this time.