State police arrested former Oxford Tax Collector Karen Guillet Wednesday morning on first-degree larceny and first-degree forgery charges.
Guillet, 61, has been under investigation by the state police since December 2009.
The town claims Guillet took more than $670,000 over six years.
The arrest comes after a two-year probe during which state police examined bank deposit slips, checks and account logs for the tax collector’s office.
The town claims that Guillet was running something of a Ponzi scheme — floating payments to different accounts in an elaborate scheme to hide missing cash.
Checks and cash for tax payments would come into Guillet’s office, the town claims, but wouldn’t necessarily get applied toward the account of the person who paid.
“This investigation was painstakingly long because of the examination of forensic records, the interviewing of numerous witnesses,” state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Wednesday.
“It’s not just something where you sit down and go through it in a few days,” he said.
Reaction
Dominick Thomas, an attorney with Cohen & Thomas in Derby, is representing Guillet.
Thomas said he has yet to receive the warrant used to charge Guillet.
“I am not going to comment substantively. The state police were courteous enough to contact me as they always are so we were able to arrange for my client to turn herself in,” Thomas said. “At this point, we’ll let the process go forward.”
Guillet was charged with one count of first-degree larceny and six counts of first-degree forgery on an arrest warrant Wednesday morning. She turned herself in to State Police at Troop A in Southbury.
The arrest warrant used to charge Guillet is in Superior Court in Derby but has yet to be processed. Vance said it likely won’t be publicly available until Dec. 12, when Guillet is arraigned.
Oxford First Selectman George Temple called a press conference at Oxford Town Hall to talk about the arrest Wednesday afternoon.
“It is a sad day for the town of Oxford,” Temple said. “But it is time to reflect and go forward.”
“As a lawyer I would be quick to point out that at this point, the tax collector has been charged and not proven guilty and should be presumed innocent,” Temple said. “But a judge at the Superior Court has signed a warrant for her arrest, which would indicate that he or she believes that the tax collector committed the crime of embezzlement.”
Temple said the town continues to add checks and balances to the tax collection process to make sure nothing like this happens again.
He appeared at the press conference with newly elected tax collector Cayenne Spremullo.
Former First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers, who was present at the press conference, said she felt “absolute relief” as a result of the arrest.
“This is something we’ve been waiting for for almost two years at this point,” Drayton-Rogers said.
Background
Guillet resigned her post as tax collector in June 2010.
The town has a civil lawsuit pending against Guillet.
In October, the town received a $100,000 check from The Hartford Fire Insurance Co.
The company had a policy guaranteeing the loyalty and honesty of the former tax collector.
Click here to read all the articles the Valley Indy has published on the case.
The following press release was issued by state police Wednesday:
On November 30, 2011, at approximately 10:20 a.m., Karen Guillet, D.O.B. 12/24/49, of 2 Douglas Drive, Oxford, turned herself into Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad Detectives at State Police Troop A in Southbury.
Guillet was formerly the Tax Collector in the Town of Oxford before she resigned after allegations of theft surfaced in December 2009. State Police received a complaint and Guillet became the subject of a two-year investigation into the larceny complaint believed to be in excess of a quarter of a million dollars from the Town of Oxford’s Tax Collector’s Office. It is also alleged that Guillet was fabricating bank deposit slips and facilitating a complex check lapping scheme for many years.
Connecticut State Police initiated an extensive criminal investigation into the allegations. A forensic examination of the town records was conducted and State Police Detectives conducted numerous interviews and gathered physical evidence.
State Police Detectives provided all investigative information and evidence in an arrest warrant application that was submitted to Superior Court. An arrest warrant was issued by the court for the arrest of the accused.
The accused Guillet was processed and released on a $100,000 cash only bond. Guillet will be arraigned at GA# 5 in Derby on 12/12/11.
