WRENTHAM WOMAN STEALING $2.7 MILLION FROM EMPLOYER, arraigned

WRENTHAM WOMAN ARRESTED, ARRAIGNED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING APPROXIMATELY $2.7 MILLION FROM HER EMPLOYER

Charged with Three Counts of Larceny Over $250; Bail Set at $35,000

BOSTON – A Wrentham woman was arrested and arraigned today on charges of allegedly stealing about $2.7 million from Dale Medical Products in Plainville, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today.

Laurieann Richard, 39, was arrested at her home in Wrentham this morning and arraigned in Wrentham District Court on three counts of larceny over $250 this afternoon. Judge Emogene Johnson Smith set bail at $35,000 and ordered Richard to stay away from Dale Medical. Richard is ordered back in court on July 10.

The case was the result of an investigation referred to the Attorney General’s Office by Dale when it was discovered that its employee, Richard, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company through corporate credit card cash advancements and other retail purchases.

At Dale, Richard managed the company’s accounts payable processes as well as the disbursement, management and payment of corporate credit cards to employees around the country.

Between July 2007 and April 2014, Richard allegedly used an unauthorized American Express corporate account in Dale Medical’s name to make more than $990,000 in retail purchases at local stores, supermarkets and restaurants in the Wrentham area, as well as other purchases from Amazon, Netflix, iTunes and several other online retailers. The credit card was also used to make more than $9,000 in payments on her 2007 Jeep Commander from March 2011 to June 2013.

In another scheme, Richard used her knowledge of Dale’s Juniper Mastercard corporate credit accounts to obtain approximately $977,000 in cash advances between August 2011 and April 2014.

Similarly, Richard allegedly used Dale’s corporate credit accounts with Citizens Bank to make retail purchases and cash advances worth more than $750,000 between January 2008 and July 2011.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Attorney General’s Fraud and Financial Crimes Division Edward Beagan with assistance from State Troopers John Banik and Carly Rose, and Financial Investigator Marco DePalma.