INDUSTRY – A former Industry town clerk and treasurer has been charged with taking between $25,000 and $26,000 from the town over several years, a detective said Friday.
Cathy Frazier, 34, of Industry, repaid the money before being issued a misdemeanor summons Thursday through her attorney, Kevin Joyce, said Franklin County Detective Tom White.
Joyce said Friday that Frazier also plans to reimburse the town for the money it spent to hire a firm to go over the financial books.
“I know that she felt terrible and feels terrible” about what happened over the past couple years, but at the same time she is relieved that it is out in the open and she is able to do what needs to be done, Joyce said.
“She’s a very hard worker,” Joyce said, “and she will take whatever steps she has to do to make sure the town is treated fairly.”
Frazier is scheduled to appear April 27 in 12th District Court in Farmington.
Frazier had started taking money about six months after she was elected to office three years ago, White said.
The money in question was from the town’s weekly cash receipts, which would be deposited into a bank, White said.
Frazier used the money to pay her personal bills, he said.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson called White on Dec. 16 to start an investigation after the town’s attorney, Frank Underkuffler, contacted the Franklin County district attorney’s office, White said.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Lee Ireland had gone by the town office early Dec. 14 and noticed Frazier’s car parked in the lot when she wasn’t scheduled to be there, White said. He stopped to find out what was going on, and found that Frazier had the town’s books out, he said.
Frazier admitted to taking the money to Ireland, White said.
She resigned officially as town clerk and treasurer on Jan. 1, he said.
Comments are no longer available on this story