BANGOR (AP) – A Surry businessman regrets the day he hired a woman who is now charged with stealing more than $125,000 from his company. But David Warren is also questioning why the woman wasn’t prosecuted when she was accused a few years earlier of stealing $107,000 from a Bangor restaurant.

Had Warren known that Cecelia White of Exeter had been accused of stealing the money from Asian Palace restaurant and later ordered by a judge to repay it, he never would have hired her.

“We had no way of knowing, except we started bouncing payroll checks,” Warren said. “She just cleaned us (out).”

Warren, 65, hired White in early 2002 after she responded to a newspaper ad he placed seeking a part-time bookkeeper at his forestry company. At the time, she was being sued in a civil action by the owners of Asian Palace for allegedly stealing money while she worked for the restaurant.

But it wasn’t until last spring when Warren went to police with suspicions that White was stealing money that he found out about the earlier court decision.

By then, though, Warren had lost his health insurance because White allegedly hadn’t paid the premiums, he said. He now has medical bills in excess of $50,000 following a heart attack he suffered.

Although White is charged with stealing more than $125,000, Warren said the actual amount is closer to $220,000. White could not be reached for comment.

“It’s just been a personal disaster,” Warren said. “It’s pretty damn devastating to be 65 and to come up short $220,000.”

It’s unclear why White wasn’t charged in the restaurant theft.

Officials with the attorney general’s office and the Penobscot County District Attorney’s Office said they didn’t review the case or consider filing charges against White.

According to Penobscot County Superior Court records, Asian Palace owner Marilyn Lau sued White after White allegedly embezzled money that was owed for state and federal payroll taxes.

Lau’s attorney, Steve Blackwell of Bangor, said that he and Lau shared information with the FBI and that Lau wasn’t reluctant to pursue criminal charges.

“We were never told why there was never a prosecution,” Blackwell said.

Anne Head, director of the state Office of Licensing and Registration, said anyone can perform bookkeeping duties, such as balancing checkbooks or paying taxes, under state law.

But Head said it is a business decision, not a regulatory issue, when a company decides whom to hire.

“You have to take responsibility as a businessperson for who you hire and what kind of responsibility you give them,” she said.

Warren acknowledged that he should have been more diligent with his financial records. Still, he thinks there should be more regulatory oversight over bookkeepers.

“Most (victims) do not want to (press charges) because the amount is too small and because of the embarrassment,” Warren said. “I don’t get embarrassed easy.”

The case against White is the second recent instance of someone with a history of theft being hired for another job and being charged with embezzlement.

Iva Lynne Scott, 43, of Ellsworth was convicted this month of stealing from the Lamoine General Store, where she worked as a cashier. As Iva Lynne Westfall, she was convicted in 1993 of stealing $10,000 from a store in Blue Hill.

AP-ES-12-19-04 1308EST