PAGE A-8 ThE POST-STANDARD Sunday, May 25, 2014

Kimberly Amidon, 45Town court clerk, Manlius

$122,000 Bail money paid by suspects or their families and held by the court

The DA says she failed to deposit the bail money and used it for personal purposes in 2011 and 2012

Part-time accountant noticed discrepancies while preparing for a routine state audit

“We are all stunned by it. You put your trust in people and in their qualifications. I don’t understand why people do this.” — Manlius Town Supervisor Ed Theobald

She hopes to repay substantial amount of money; DA’s office seeking state prison time; negotiations continue

Margaret Bailey, 50Village clerk, Parish

$117,000 Access to the village checkbook

After 20 years as clerk and treasurer, she’s accused of writing 126 checks to herself from 2009 to 2013; some went to pay her husband’s taxes

A retiree asking questions about the village’s spending led to a warning from the state in 2010 about lax controls; the alleged thefts weren’t discovered until three years later, after voters dissolved the village

“She had keys to the cash register and went on a spending spree, even going as far as doubling her own salary without detection.” — State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli

Charges pending in Oswego County Court after arrest in March

Barbara Butler, 51Village clerk, Wampsville

$24,292 Cash payments made to the village for taxes and fees

She admitted making 10 cash withdrawals from village accounts and writing 11 extra paychecks from 2009 to 2011; she fell into debt through a Nigerian check-cashing scam and casino gambling

She confessed as village officials were conducting an audit

“People should be able to rely on people like you. … You took on a course of action that made the entire community a victim.” — Madison County Judge Biagio DiStefano

Sentenced to six months in jail, five years on probation, and restitution payable with $10,000 down and $250 a month for five years

Mary Cole, 66Town court clerk, Cicero

$27,000 Traffic fines paid to the town court

She was accused of taking money paid as traffic fines in 2009 and 2010 and keeping it for her own use

Internal audit raised questions leading to external audit; she resigned during investigation

“Because of the way local courts keep records, it’s difficult to track the money. It shouldn’t be, but it is.” — First Chief Assistant DA Rick Trunfio

Sentenced to five years on probation

Stephen Donahue, 54Manager of NYS Bowling Association, Weedsport

$274,000 Bowling association members’ dues

He obtained a debit card in 2006 without informing the association, which he managed for 23 years, and drained its account while gambling at Turning Stone Resort and Casino

Bowling association officials became suspicious when Donahue refused to let them see complete bank records

“You knew what you were doing was wrong, and you just kept doing it until you got caught.” — Oneida County Judge Michael Dwyer

Pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny, sentenced to 3 to 9 years in state prison

Kathleen Kane, 47Bursar’s office cashier, Onondaga Community College

$200,000 Cash payments made by students for tuition

After divorce, she fell behind paying bills; charged in theft of $6,527 in 2013; the DA believes the total since 2003 was closer to $200,000

OCC noticed financial irregularities

“While this is an isolated incident, we are deeply disappointed in the apparent actions of this individual ….” — Interim OCC President Meg O’Connell

Sentenced to two years in jail, released on parole after six months, ordered to repay $200,000 to OCC, school’s insurance company and state

John Osborn, 57, and Mary Meyer, 55He was chair of Manlius United Methodist Church finance committee; she was treasurer of church fund

$444,589 Money left to the church in wills and raised by children to help starving families

Meyer is accused of writing unauthorized checks to herself, to her husband and to his company, Ashton Holdings LLC, of Fulton, from 2008 to 2012; both are charged with grand larceny

Unexplained deficits and a utility cutoff notice aroused suspicion; so did Osborn’s failure to repay a loan to a parishioner

“The concept of having someone do this to us is very, very painful. Especially if it’s our leader, who told us we should be trusting him.” — Andy Hardman, chair of staff-parish relations committee

Scheduled to go to trial June 23

Lawrence Recor, 64Treasurer of Erwin Library, Boonville

$280,000 Most of the money came from a large gift to the library

He wrote dozens of unauthorized checks from the library’s account to make payroll at his struggling accounting business from 2005 to 2008

Library’s board of directors suspected him and fired him; nine-month investigation led to charges

“With all these cases … each and every time I hope that it’s going to send a message out there, and I just don’t see any decrease in the number of larceny cases … I wish people would learn the lesson.” — Judge Michael Dwyer

Sentenced in 2010 to 3 to 9 years in prison

Bonnie Simson, 43Manager of patient services, St. Joseph’s Hospital

$900,000 Cash payments made by patients for phones and cable TV service

She took cash from envelopes and falsified records to support an addiction to painkillers from 2000 to 2011

After she resigned in 2011, hospital officials confronted her about the missing money

“This was an isolated incident and we are saddened that this employee appears to have failed to live up to our values of stewardship and integrity.” — Hospital spokeswoman Kerri Ganci

Sentenced to prison for a year and a day; then, restitution payments of at least $250 a month

Eric M. Varney, 44School athletic director and assistant principal, Jordan-Elbridge

$12,729 Ticket proceeds from football, basketball and volleyball games

Varney was supposed to hand gate receipts from athletic events to another school employee, but told that person, “Hey, don’t worry about it, I got it,” accord-ing to Superintendent James Froio

School employees found something amiss in the “student admissions account” on April 24 and notified state police; the next day, Varney repaid the money and resigned; state police did not charge him with a crime

“We did everything we were supposed to do. What the state police do after we report it is up to them. They didn’t notify the DA’s office when we notified them. It’s not my place to leapfrog the state police and go to the district attorney.” — J-E Superinten-dent James Froio

The DA learned of the case on May 8; within a week, Varney was charged with third-degree grand larceny

Sally Jo Widmer, 63Teachers union president, Auburn

$808,000 Union dues She lost $350,000 to slots and table games at Turning Stone Casino; the remainder went to travel, clothing, groceries, gasoline, meals and cash from 2006 to 2012

Union officials who attended a financial workshop asked Widmer about her sole control of union finances; the theft was discovered in an audit conducted shortly after Widmer’s death in 2012 (see Outcome)

“People interviewed say the same things — they had no reason to suspect her. She did a great job as union president, she came from money, she had a good job, a good pension, she lived in a family house that had been given to her. She had no children.” — Auburn police detective Jeffery Mead

Widmer committed suicide with a lethal combination of rum, opiates and painkillers on Nov. 7, 2012

PERPETRATOR OR SUSPECT

AMOUNT MISSING

TEMPTATION

WHERE’D IT GO?

BUSTED HOW?

QUOTE

OUTCOME

from page one

$3,209,610

TrusT and TempTaTion

The case of Eric Varney isn’t the

grandest grand larceny alleged

in Central new york,

but it’s the most recent.

The $12,729 he is accused

of taking from Jordan-Elbridge

sporting events adds up

with other recent cases to total

over $3 million reported

missing from municipalities

and nonprofits.

Here’s a look at 11 recent grand larceny cases that made headlines and their outcomes. In several cases that have not yet been adjudicated, charges are still pending against the defendants.

Information compiled by Mark Libbon from staff reports in The Post-Standard’s archives