Valley Independent Sentinel

Lauretti: ‘Hundreds’ Of Thousands Missing From Shelton Finance Office

by Ethan Fry | Aug 24, 2012 11:05 am

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Posted to: Shelton, Shelton Investigation

State police are investigating the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars dating back to at least 2009 from the Shelton finance department, Mayor Mark Lauretti told the Valley Indy Friday.

The city’s assistant finance director, Sharon Scanlon, resigned Thursday after Lauretti said he sent her a termination notice last week in connection with an investigation into the finance department.

Lauretti’s office issued a prepared statement Friday morning saying the city “is currently investigating the theft of public funds in our Finance Department.”

The press release, which appears at the end of this story, said Scanlon had resigned and that her boss, city finance director Louis Marusic, has been placed on paid administrative leave, though he “is not a suspect in this matter.”

In a brief interview after the press release was issued, Lauretti said that regarding the funds stolen from the finance office, the numbers will probably change as the investigation goes on, but that it was a “sizeable” amount.

Asked by a reporter if the amount was in the tens of thousands of dollars, Lauretti paused and said: “Hundreds.”

He added: “The number’s probably going to change, that’s why I’m reluctant to give you a number.”

“We do have nailed down a dollar amount and a time frame that spans over a couple years, I think going back to as far as ’09 right now is where we’re at,” Lauretti added.

Asked how the missing money came to light, Lauretti said: “The auditors picked up on it.”

One of the city’s auditors, David Cappelletti, of Woodbridge-based Levitsky and Berney, PC, was in City Hall Friday morning, but declined to comment to reporters.

Regarding Marusic’s employment status, the mayor said that he had asked for time off to attend to a personal matter, which the mayor refused, leading to a conflict between the two.

“He did ask for time off and I wasn’t of the mind to do that and I didn’t,” the mayor said. “So I had to take an action and I did.”

Asked if that was the only reason Marusic was on leave, the mayor responded: “That’s an issue that’s going to unfold over the next couple of weeks,” without elaborating.

With the city without the two top employees in the finance department, the mayor said outside help will be brought in on a temporary basis.

“The city is currently pursuing various avenues to obtain full restitution,” the press release issued by Lauretti Friday said. “A more comprehensive public statement will follow completion of this investigation. Based upon advice of Counsel, we cannot provide any more details at this time.”

Messages left Thursday for Marusic and Scanlon were not returned. The Valley Indy also left messages at the numbers listed for the two Friday morning.

The Shelton allegations are the latest in a series of incidents that are plaguing local governments in the Valley.

In Oxford, former tax collector Karen Guillet faces five years in prison after pleading guilty in July to first-degree larceny. She admitted stealing $243,902.18 from taxpayers. Guillet will be sentenced Oct. 29.

In Ansonia, the state’s attorney’s office is investigating Ansonia Tax Collector Bridget Bostic after the Valley Indy published a story saying she gave out documents to city officials — and her mother — saying they had paid car taxes when, in fact, they had not paid.

In Derby, the Board of Aldermen Thursday approved a “separation agreement” for an employee in the tax office who allegedly “mishandled” cash payments from residents. A criminal investigation did not happen in Derby.

Press Release – Finance Office – 8-24-12

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