Darien Resident Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Veteran Organization

Editor’s note: We previously ran this story, but here it is again in case you missed it.

A Darien woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding a Connecticut-based veterans services organization of aobut $800,000.

Cynthia Tanner, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.

Tanner was employed as a bookkeeper for National Veterans Service Fund based in Darien. The organization manages social services and limited medical assistance to Vietnam and Persian Gulf War veterans and their families.

Tanner used nearly $800,000 in the organization’s funds between January 2009 and June 2014 to pay for various personal expenses for her and her family members, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office. She altered records to cover-up the scheme.

She failed to report the nearly $800,000 in embezzled funds as income.

Tanner was arrested in June 2014 and was released on a $50,000 bond. She faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for wire fraud and five years for tax evasion.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2016.