Winchester Woman Pleads Guilty to Theft of over $150k from Local Labor Union

DORCHESTER, MA — A Winchester woman plead guilty to charges for the theft of over $150,000 from a local labor union which she committed while working as the union's bookkeeper, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Marie Esther Lafontant, 40, of Winchester plead guilty on Sept. 26 to three counts of larceny over $250 and one count of making false entry on corporate books in Suffolk Superior Court. Judge Robert Gordon sentenced Lafontant to one year in county jail followed by 10 years probation, in addition to ordering her to pay more than $150,000 in restitution.

Gordon also approved the prosecutions request that Lafontant seek the court's permission before taking a job that would grant her access to funds or financial information and that she inform any such employer of her conviction.

“These funds were intended to provide plumbers and gasfitters with training, certification, and retirement benefits,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said. “The defendant took that money from working men and women and put it toward her own ends. Fortunately, the union leadership detected the thefts before they suffered even greater losses.”

The DA's office indicated that evidence would prove that Lafontant printed checks drawn on Local 12's bank accounts, intercepted the union's checks to third parties and deposited them into accounts she controlled.

According to the DA's announcement, Lafontant made seven charges totaling $6,150 using a union credit card; intercepted eight checks from the union to outside merchants totaling $20,361 and made them payable to a bank account she controlled; and drafted 20 checks drawn on union accounts totaling $128,346 and deposited them into the same account.

The announcement further indicated the fraudulent checks and charges were made between October 2011 and April 2013, when union accountants discovered a payment to Amour Creole, a business with which the union had no ties. Lafontant is listed as the president, secretary, and director of Amour Creole in the organization’s articles of incorporation.

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