Salem Finance Director Arrested for Willful Concealment

SALEM, NH - The finance director for the town of Salem has been put on administrative leave after she was arrested for shoplifting on Friday, according to police.

Jane Savastano, 48, of Salem, was arrested on Feb. 19, 2016, on a willful concealment charge after police were called to Macy’s at the Mall at Rockingham Park for a report of a shoplifter in custody.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Salem Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

Savastano, a loss prevention employee alleged, concealed 11 items, totaling $591, and left the store without paying for the items, according to Capt. Joel Dolan of the Salem Police Department. She was arrested, processed, and released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail with a court date set for April 4.

Upon learning of her employment status with the town, police requested “outside prosecutors to avoid any potential conflicts,” Dolan noted, and Savastano was placed on administrative leave.

Town Manager Leon Goodwin stated on Monday that Savastano had been the finance director since April 2005 and was being paid around $108,000 in 2013, according to his records. She earned more than $101,000 in 2012, according to a post on Salem NH Patch about the top municipal wage earners in town.

Goodwin noted that an acting-finance director had been appointed and the town would check any and all accounts that she had access to and would perform a full financial audit. Goodwin stated that the town did have payroll and accounts payable employees but Savastano did have access to checks and a small amount of petty cash. Goodwin added that the town did not have any reason to believe that there were any financial problems but was using “an abundance of caution” with the situation.