Bartlett Used Disabled Woman's Bank Account To Embezzle, Docs Say

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield's former public works superintendent may have used the bank account of a disabled woman who he was charged with protecting to commit embezzlement and money laundering, according to court documents obtained Tuesday by Patch.

Included in the documents are previously unreported details about Scott Bartlett, one of three men charged in an investigation of financial and environmental crimes related to the Fairfield fill pile.

Between 2014 and 2016, when his crimes are alleged to have occurred, Bartlett and his wife, Ann Bartlett, were more than $1 million in debt, owing hundreds of thousands in mortgage payments, plus thousands more in credit card bills and taxes, according to an affidavit and application for a search and seizure warrant. The Aug. 29 application argues that bank records from January 2013 to August 2019 for a specific account at GE Credit Union contain evidence of larceny by embezzlement and money laundering.

The bank account in question belongs to the 44-year-old daughter of a deceased public works employee, the affidavit said. The woman is mentally disabled, and Scott and Ann Bartlett were appointed in probate court to manage her affairs as of 2013, the year her father died.

In August 2019, a service representative from GE Credit Union's Fairfield location contacted Fairfield police to report suspicious transactions made on the woman's account, including "extremely large" deposits and a similarly large withdrawal, according to the affidavit.

"She also felt that there were an inordinate and excessive number of cash withdrawals and charges on the account, and a large purchase at the Home Depot," the affidavit said.

August was not the first time law enforcement were warned of suspicious activity on the account. In February 2019, police were contacted by a high-ranking official with the credit union, who cited the same transactions as the customer service worker, according to the affidavit.

"... those involved in municipal corruption, and who receive illegal monetary kickbacks, hide said kickbacks in the bank accounts of others that they control, in order to avoid detection," the affidavit said, later concluding that, "... Scott and/or Anne (sic) Bartlett, while under extreme financial distress, did misuse the G.E. Credit Union account/s of [redacted], who is mentally disabled and unable to control and protect her financial affairs."

When contacted Tuesday about the new allegations, Bartlett's attorney, Fred Paoletti, said he hadn't seen the affidavit.

"It's new to me so I'd have to talk with my client," he said.

The affidavit also confirmed that an inspector who investigated Bartlett in 2009 and 2010 for allegations of corruption submitted a warrant application for Bartlett's arrest to the state's attorney's office, although the application was not approved. The inspector's attempt to arrest Bartlett has heretofore only been confirmed in a draft police report obtained from an anonymous source by Republican Town Committee Chair and Fairfield police commissioner Jamie Millington.

Bartlett, who is due in court Wednesday, is charged with forgery, larceny, receiving kickbacks, illegal dumping, illegal discharge and handling waste without a permit, according to court records. Also facing charges are former public works director Joe Michelangelo and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian, who has a court date Wednesday as well. The trio was arrested in August, and Michelangelo and Bartlett have since been fired from their town jobs. All three men have pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial.

Fairfield hired Julian Development in 2013 to operate the fill pile and reduce the amount of unused project material by 40,000 cubic yards. But over the next three years, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before the agreement was set to end, PCBs and lead were discovered on the property.

After conservation officials said the transportation and dumping of contaminated material could have violated state or federal law, police opened an investigation in 2017, which resulted in the arrests.

Around the same time that Bartlett, Julian and Michelangelo were charged, asbestos at a local park was reported to police, and not long after that, the town released a list of 20 priority contamination testing sites that received fill from the pile when it was operated by Julian.

Since August, at least 66 areas in Fairfield have been tested for contamination. The vast majority have been deemed safe, but some sites were found to contain asbestos, arsenic and other contaminants.

Fairfield has sued Julian for millions in damages and Julian has sued the town for defamation.