A former Gorham tax clerk, who was fired by the town last month, has been indicted on charges of theft and aggravated forgery.
Laura Anderson of Arundel was indicted on the charges by a Cumberland County grand jury on Friday.
Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Julia Sheridan confirmed Anderson has been charged and said she would be notified when to appear for her arraignment in Maine Superior Court.
In an interview last week, Mike Vaillancourt, Anderson’s attorney, denied the charges against Anderson. “To the extent that the town feels Laura has done anything illegal or improper, we deny those allegations,” Vaillancourt said.
Vaillancourt reiterated that belief again this week. “We still haven’t seen any evidence that Laura has committed a crime,” Vaillancourt said Tuesday.
Sheridan said Anderson has been charged with taking in excess of $1,000 but she declined to release a specific amount. Sheridan said Anderson has been charged with a class C theft, which is for an amount between $1,000 and $10,000. Sheridan also said Anderson has been charged with aggravated forgery, which is a class B crime.
Sheridan said a class C crime is punishable by up to five years and a class B crime is punishable up to 10 years. Sheridan said the alleged dates of the incidents were between June 1, 2005, and March 10, 2006.
Gorham Town Manager David Cole said Tuesday that Anderson began working for the town in July 2002. She was suspended, with pay, on March 15, and at that time, the town began an investigation of financial transactions processed by Anderson.
The town held a hearing in Cole’s office on April 26 to allow Anderson to respond to the conclusions of the investigation. Anderson appeared at the meeting with Vaillancourt, who spoke on her behalf.
Following the investigation, Cole terminated Anderson’s employment in a letter to her on April 27. According to the termination letter sent by the town to Anderson, the town’s investigation concluded Anderson had improperly processed 75 transactions and the letter also said she had allegedly stolen money from the town.
Anderson had worked for the town as a motor vehicle agent, assistant tax collector and customer service clerk.
The town turned its findings in the investigation over to the district attorney’s office. “It’s in the hands of the judicial system at this point,” Cole said Tuesday.
Jo Morrissey, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, declined to release further information about the case. Morrissey said the investigative documents are not considered public documents.
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