Bookkeeper Gets 30 Months for Stealing $389K from Store

CONCORD, NH - A 55-year-old resident of Farmington has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for a mail fraud offense that involved the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from her former employer and three counts of filing false tax returns.

According to a press statement from U.S. Attorney Emily Gray Rice, Susan Durrance failed to report the embezzled funds on her federal tax returns while stealing $396,212.93 while employed as a bookkeeper for a privately owned appliance store in Wolfeboro and (later) Ossipee, from 2005 to June 2011.

Durrance stole the money by issuing checks from the store’s operating account to make payments on her personal credit accounts. In May 2010, Durrance paid for a tractor she purchased for her personal use by causing a $2,999 check drawn on the operating account to be mailed to the tractor’s manufacturer. She also issued checks from the operating account to “cash” or to herself in amounts that were inconsistent with her salary, which were cashed or deposited to her personal bank account.

In addition, Durrance failed to report the proceeds of her embezzlement scheme on herfederal income tax returns for tax years 2005 through 2010. Through this conduct, she evaded paying additional taxes totaling $94,270 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Durrance was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim of her crime.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Carroll County New Hampshire Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Robert M. Kinsella, according to a press statement.