Feds Charge Waterford Woman With Fraud, Theft From Addiction Nonprofit

WATERFORD, CT — The former head of a Norwich-based regional mental health and substance abuse non-profit was indicted July 26 by a federal grand jury charging her with fraud and theft offenses, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The indictment charges Michele Devine, 49, with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of theft from an agency receiving federal funds, according to U. S. Attorney for CT, Vanessa Roberts Avery. If convicted on all counts, she faces decades in federal prison. Devine, who pleaded not guilty, is free on a $25,000 bond.

Devine is the former executive director of the Southeastern Regional Action Council on Substance Abuse, Inc., which serves 41 towns in southeastern and northeastern Connecticut with substance abuse, problem gambling, and mental health related services. SERAC is primarily funded through hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grants from the State of Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In charge of the agency until July 2022, in that role Devine is alleged to have spent thousands of dollars on purchases that did not relate SERAC but instead appear to be personal expenses for Devine and her family, Avery said.

The charges include thousands of dollars spent on home appliances; a trip to the Canyon Ranch luxury spa in the Berkshires, Massachusetts; timeshare fees at the Water’s Edge resort; and purchases at Marshalls, Target, Amazon, Best Buy, Etsy, and scrapbooking/crafting websites, according to the U. S. Attorney.

Avery "stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt." Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the New London State’s Attorney’s Office and the State of Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah P. Karwan.