Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti said Monday that Sharon Scanlon, the former city official accused of embezzling nearly $1 million from taxpayers, has forfeited her pension to the city, an indication that the criminal case against her may be winding toward a resolution.
Lauretti said that the city recently received a payment of about $130,000 representing contributions made — and voluntarily forfeited — by Scanlon to her pension plan over the course of her 17-year employment, and that the city will recoup most of the money she allegedly pilfered.
Meanwhile, the criminal case against Scanlon was continued Monday for the second time in less than a week.
Scanlon was arrested in January by state police in the case, and faces a single count of first-degree larceny and 56 counts of first-degree forgery. She is free on $100,000 bond.
Formerly the second-in-charge in the city’s finance office, Scanlon is accused of embezzling $914,153.50 between 2001 and July 2012.
Scanlon was scheduled to appear at Superior Court in Milford last Wednesday (Oct. 2), but the case was continued to Monday (Oct. 7) because State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor, the prosecutor handling the case, was busy with a trial.
On Monday, the case was continued again, to Oct. 24, after Lawlor said Scanlon’s lawyer, William F. Dow III, was busy handling another case in New Haven.
Neither Dow nor Scanlon were in court Monday. The Valley Indy left a message seeking comment Monday at Dow’s office.
Nothing has happened in the case publicly since Scanlon pleaded not guilty to the charges against her in March, but Dow has been having closed-door discussions with prosecutors.
After Scanlon’s most recent court date, in August, Dow hinted there could be movement in the case at her next appearance, without elaborating.
Mayor: ‘We’ll Come Close’
In addition to the criminal case, the city filed a lawsuit in late 2012 against Scanlon in which a judge granted a request to put a lien on her Crescent Drive home.
Mayor Mark Lauretti said on Monday that the city has recouped more than $600,000 in its efforts thus far to make taxpayers whole.
Lauretti said the city recently received a payment of about $500,000 through a theft insurance policy, in addition to the $130,000 Scanlon forfeited from her pension.
The mayor said those payments — in addition to the city’s still-pending civil lawsuit — would bring Shelton close to getting back the $914,153 Scanlon is accused of stealing.
“I don’t think we’ll get there, but we’ll come close,” Lauretti said.
If Scanlon were convicted in the criminal case, a judge could also order her to pay restitution as part of her sentence.
Asked if he’s been consulted by prosecutors in the criminal case, Lauretti said he hasn’t.
But if Scanlon forfeited her pension, wouldn’t that make it likely a plea deal is just around the corner?
“That’s all handled through the courts,” Lauretti said. “We’re not privy to anything yet.”
One thing Lauretti said he was sure of Monday — if Scanlon does cop a plea, don’t expect him to show up at her sentencing.
“There’s no role for me to play,” he said.
Not even to represent the thousands of taxpayers victimized by her alleged theft?
“That’s what the prosecutor is there for,” the mayor said.
Background
The allegations against Scanlon first came to light a year ago, when Lauretti revealed Scanlon had resigned under threat of termination amidst a state police investigation of hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from the city’s finance office.
By that point Scanlon was already under a cloud of suspicion after two clerks in the finance office found a voided check on Scanlon’s desk for $7,825 and nothing else written on it, according to the arrest warrant in Scanlon’s criminal case.
The clerks wrote down the check number and decided to follow up on it. When bank records arrived about a week later, they discovered the check had been made out to Scanlon, who was in charge of reconciling the city’s bank accounts.
A week after the state police probe was revealed publicly, detectives showed up at City Hall and seized computers and other evidence from the finance office.
At the time the alleged scheme was uncovered, Scanlon was Shelton’s assistant finance director. Her boss, Louis Marusic, was put on administrative leave and later retired, though he wasn’t a suspect in the theft.
The five-month investigation that culminated in Scanlon’s arrest revealed deficiencies in the city’s system of checks and balances that Lauretti said have since been addressed to provide more oversight and “duplication of efforts.”
