Former Hartland Church Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

The former treasurer of the First Universalist Society Church in Hartland pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday to embezzling nearly $8,000.

Tamara Ross, of Hartland, received a suspended six-month to two-year sentence on the felony embezzlement charge, and was placed on probation for two years.

The 45-year-old Ross must also pay $500 in restitution to the church, which Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill said is the amount of money the church paid to meet its insurance deductible.

The insurance company reimbursed the church in the amount of $7,500, the limit of its policy coverage.

Ross embezzled a total of $7,910 between September 2014 and April 2015, Cahill said, adding that church officials were satisfied with the resolution to the case.


Ross, who said she is disabled, will repay the $500 in $25 monthly increments.

She didn’t speak in court on Tuesday.

The misdeed came to light in May 2016 following a lengthy investigation by police, the church’s board of directors and a forensic accounting firm.

Former SNHU official sentenced for embezzlement

The former budget director of Southern New Hampshire University was sentenced Tuesday to 7 ½ to 15 years in prison for stealing $1.1 million from the school over the course of 14 years.

Raymond Prouty, who had worked at the Manchester school for 34 years, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft by deception and theft by unauthorized taking. He did not comment at his sentencing hearing in Merrimack County Superior Court, but prosecutors said he gave no specific explanations for the thefts.

‘‘He explained, ‘It just started. It just started and somehow, it just escalated,'’’ Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Ward said, according to WMUR-TV (http://bit.ly/1kaKdHv). ‘‘He explained that it was just for paying bills and perhaps living beyond his means.’’

The allegations span from 1998 into 2012 and were uncovered after authorities noticed an unauthorized scholarship for Prouty’s niece and took a closer look at financial records. Ward said one of his schemes involved steering money he said was for sports officials into a dummy company he created and controlled.

Investigators said Prouty also stole more than $95,000 from Hooksett Kiwanis, where he served as treasurer, and then had the university reimburse the organization. They also found a checking account dating back to 1999 that the university didn’t know existed.

Prouty was ordered to repay the money, reimbursing the university $100,000 per year.

Former youth baseball league president pleads guilty in NH to embezzlement

The former head of a youth baseball and softball league in the New Hampshire city of Concord has pleaded guilty to embezzling thousands of dollars from the association.

Robert Lachapelle was president of the Concord Northeast Baseball and Softball League from 2007 to 2011.

The Concord Monitor reports (http://bit.ly/1lSiuMN ) that he was accused of withdrawing $4,300 from the league account, twice through a fund transfer and a check.

The 55-year-old Lachapelle pleaded guilty on Friday to two felony counts of theft by unauthorized taking.

Under a plea agreement, he is expected to be sentenced next month to probation. Prosecutors say he also must pay back the money to the league and complete a county diversion program.

A former president of Concord Northeast Baseball and Softball League pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing thousands of dollars from the association during his tenure there.

The man, Robert Lachapelle, pleaded guilty in Merrimack County Superior Court to two felony counts of theft by unauthorized taking. As part of a deal with county prosecutors, he is set to receive probation and a suspended jail sentence next month.

Lachapelle was arrested a year ago and accused of withdrawing $4,300 from the league account in 2010, twice through fund transfers and once through a drawn check. The police said they began investigating Lachapelle in April 2012 when a league official reported concerns that funds had been misappropriated.

Lachapelle, who is 55, served as president of the league from 2007 to 2011. He also served as director of the Babe Ruth Softball 16U World Series in 2009, when it came to Concord.

In addition to suspended jail time, Lachapelle is expected to pay full restitution to the league and to complete a county diversion program, Deputy County Attorney Catherine Ruffle said. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 14.


Andy Kastle, the league’s sitting president, said he and others were “pleased that this long legal journey is nearing completion.”

“While the sentencing has yet to take place, the diligence of the Concord Police Department and Merrimack County Attorney’s office has led to this satisfactory point, and Mr. Lachapelle has taken responsibility through his plea,” he wrote in an email.

Kastle also reiterated what officials said when the charges were first brought: The league has tightened its control over receipts and instituted a more detailed record keeping process for expenditures.

“These unfortunate circumstances have led CNE to strengthen our financial controls and our sponsors and parents can know we are on solid footing,” he wrote.

Lachapelle and his attorney, John Draghi, declined to comment after the hearing. Yesterday was the last day they could enter a plea in the case.

Henniker, New Hampshire school PTA treasurer accused of embezzling more than $1,000

Police say the treasurer of the Henniker Community School PTA in New Hampshire has been accused of embezzling more than $1,000 from the association's bank account.

Thirty-seven-year-old Shannon Lovejoy of Henniker, a former school board member, has been charged with felony-level theft by embezzlement after police said she wrote checks from the PTA's account for her own benefit.
Police said she became treasurer of the PTA in June and gained full control of the accounts in August.
Police said another member of the PTA contacted them on Oct. 15 when they noticed some money missing from the account.
Lovejoy, who was arrested Tuesday, has declined to comment. She was released on $50,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 3.

Former principal accused of embezzlement in New Hampshire

The former principal of a private religious school in Litchfield has been charged with stealing more than $150,000 from the school over a four-year period.
A Hillsborough County Superior Court grand jury indicted Shannon Dannible, 36, of Amesbury, Mass., on a single count of theft by unauthorized taking and transfer for taking money out of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish school accounts from 2007-11. Dannible is charged with taking about $152,467, according to the indictment.

The current principal of the school, Amy Malinowski, was not immediately available for comment. The school is still on summer break and classes resume Sept. 3, according to an automated message at the school.
Dannible is accused of taking money out of the school’s accounts by writing herself checks, withdrawing cash and “directing school funds to pay off personal debts,” according to court records.
The alleged thefts all happened between Aug. 1, 2007 and June 30, 2011, according to the indictment.
The school is a “parish school,” meaning it is operated by the St. Francis of Assisi Parish but, like all Catholic schools in the state, comes under the overarching auspices of the Diocese of Manchester, according to diocese spokesman, Patrick McGee Sr.
McGee said the diocese has cooperated fully with investigators from the state Attorney General’s Office and said the alleged theft has not and will not affect the day-to-day operations at the school.
“It’s not affecting staffing, the school programs or the learning environment. Period,” McGee said. “This is not affecting the viability of the school in any way.”
In fact, enrollment at the school was up 30 percent last year over the previous year, he said, and a good deal of the missing $150,000 was covered by the school’s insurance policies.
The school also has instituted “additional internal financial controls” to prevent anything similar happening in the future, he said.
Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said diocese officials brought the alleged theft to the Attorney General’s attention after completing a financial audit following Dannible’s departure in 2011.
Agati said the diocese and the school have been “100 percent cooperative.” He said he could not talk specifically about what Dannible allegedly used the money for, but that it used was for personal expense

Former Acton Parent Teachers Group treasurer avoids jail time in embezzlement case; Shannon Winchell ordered to serve community, pay back stolen funds in New Hampshire

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The former treasurer of the Acton Parent Teachers Group will not serve time in jail for stealing $29,000 from the PTG over three years, but she has been ordered to do community service for the town and pay back the funds.

Shannon Winchell, 34, of Acton, was sentenced to two years in jail, all suspended, with an additional two years probation for embezzling $29,000 when she was treasurer of the parent-teacher group.
In a sentencing hearing in York County Superior Court Wednesday morning, Justice Paul A. Fritzsche also ordered that Winchell serve 250 hours of community service — in Acton, if possible — over the next 22 months and send a written apology, through the District Attorney's office, to members of the PTG. She must also pay back the money she stole from the organization.
Winchell was indicted by a York County grand jury in April for theft, "by obtaining or exercising unauthorized control over $27,000, more or less, property of Acton Schools Parent Teacher Group . . ." The actual amount was closer to $29,000, according to testimony at Wednesday's hearing.
The theft was discovered by members of the Acton PTG in August 2010 when they began to receive past-due notices for bills that had not been paid. They also found that the PTG's bank statements did not correspond to the treasurer's reports, and that the group's account balances were considerably lower than they should have been.
On the advice of an investigator in the York County Sheriff's Office, PTG officers questioned Winchell about the missing funds. She was removed from office and the sheriff's office launched an investigation.
Winchell pleaded guilty to Class B felony theft during an Aug. 25 court hearing.
At Wednesday's sentencing, Winchell's defense attorney, Joseph Mekonis, told Justice Fritzsche that his client had already repaid more than half of the amount owed to the PTG.
After a brief exchange between Mekonis and Assistant District Attorney Kent Avery, it was determined that Winchell has so far reimbursed $20,281.94 to the PTG.
"She is one of the most motivated clients I have ever had," Mekonis said, adding that Winchell had already taken "a number of measures" to try to right the wrong she had done when she called and asked him to represent her.
Winchell told the court that she works 30 hours a week as a cleaner in a hospital to pay the money back.
Speaking at the hearing for members of the Acton PTG, Vice President Susan Ottey asked Justice Fritzsche to "show no leniency in sentencing." Reading from a prepared statement, Ottey said Winchell had deprived the school and its students of opportunities to attend camp and benefit from new equipment, and the PTG had to postpone the purchase of a fire engine for the playground.
Ottey said the theft had also cost the PTG "the confidence, trust, and respect of all those who had generously donated in the past."
Fritzsche agreed that embezzlement make things very difficult for an organization.
"Normally, I would say there has to be some amount of jail time," he told Winchell. "What's different here is that you have worked very hard" to pay back the organization, he said. "That's really quite remarkable."
The community service aspect of Winchell's sentence may be more difficult to fulfill.
She said she had spoken to the Acton Elementary School principal and received permission to serve as a volunteer in the school, but that the new superintendent had declined the offer. Winchell said she had also asked to be allowed to volunteer at the town office and a church, but had still been unable to find a place to volunteer.
Fritzsche suggested that the sentence be amended to "community service in Acton, if possible," but Avery objected saying, "It is very important [to the victims, members of the PTG] that she serve her community service conspicuously in Acton."
Fritzsche concurred, but left the door open in the event that she is unable to obtain a volunteer opportunity in the town.

PTO treasurer arrested after cash vanishes in New Hampshire

A member of North Canton Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Organization was recently charged with fraud and embezzlement after nearly $8,000 was discovered missing from a PTO account.

Susan Rider, 38, of Clyde, was serving as treasurer of the North Canton PTO when other officials noticed a “drastic change in the balance of the account,” said Dr. Bill Nolte, associate superintendent of Haywood County Schools.
The case was referred to Canton Det. Brad Shirley, who initiated an investigation that ultimately led to Rider’s arrest. She is charged with embezzlement and two counts of fraud, forging and uttering.
Rider is accused of misusing a PTO credit card to withdraw cash and make unauthorized purchases on a number of occasions between Jan. 19 and Feb. 28, totaling approximately $7,851, Canton Police Chief Brian Whitner said. She is also accused of forging signatures on at least two checks.
Nolte explained that Parent Teacher Organizations and their accounts are totally separate from school accounts.
“PTO’s are separate organizations and have their own board, their own accounts and own signatures,” he said. “But we were given a tip that an account had gone from a really hefty balance down to zero, and what we did was notify the principal who asked the president of the PTO to please to freeze the account and give the information to law enforcement.”
School officials have no governing authority over PTOs, said Nolte. The objective of parent teacher organizations is to drive fundraising efforts for respective schools. Typically, members include volunteers who work closely with school officials to raise funding for specific needs – often needy students and/or needed school equipment.
“The vast majority of the time these are dedicated hardworking volunteers who want to make more resources available to students,” he said. “Perspective wise, we want folks to understand that we are very supportive of all the work that volunteers do to help our students. This is not our account, and not a group of people that we govern. …It’s really unfortunate any time funds get misused. In this particular case, we’re thankful it wasn’t taxpayer dollars, that it was funds raised by that school’s PTO but it still doesn’t make it that much better.”
Ultimately, school officials would just like to see the PTO get their money back, Nolte said.
“The sad thing is that those funds were raised in that community by people who cared about that school. And typically, they raise money in pretty small amounts, like a quarter or dollar at a time… that’s the part that is really, really sad,” he said. “That community and PTO leadership worked with school officials to raise funds for that school and it wasn’t like some wealthy contributor dropped that money on the school. People worked really hard to raise that money. It’s more personal than someone taking $50 from a business.”
Rider turned herself in to police to be charged, was released from police custody under $10,000 bond. She will make her first court appearance April 4