Manager accused of $150k theft, Local News
Manager accused of $150k theft
NEWBURY — The former general manager of an upscale Plum Island inn has paid almost $43,000 in restitution and will serve two years of probation after being accused of embezzling more than $150,000 during her six years working at blue, the Inn on the Beach.
Diane Beaudry, 36, presently of thirteen Watts St., Malden, but formerly of Fremont, N.H., did not come in a guilty prayer but pleaded to sufficient facts at Newburyport District Court on Thursday to the charge of larceny brought against her in September 2010. Judge Peter Doyle ordered the case continued without finding, placing Beaudry on probation for two years and requiring her to pay $42,759 in restitution instantaneously.
Two other charges brought against Beaudry, improper use of a credit card and identity fraud, were dismissed.
The beachfront inn is possessed by Julian Geiger, chairman of the board of the national clothing chain Aeropostale Inc. Geiger’s wifey, Jeanne, bought the former Waltons Ocean Front inn in two thousand three and turned it into an upscale establishment. It was one of several Plum Island properties she had bought with the intention of turning upscale and theming to the color blue. Her plans came to a unexpected and tragic end in the winter of 2005, when she died from injuries suffered from a fall off a third-floor deck at blue.
According to the Newbury police reports found in court documents, the theft was brought to police attention in late June two thousand ten by Julian Geiger, who lives in Malvern, Penn. Beaudry had been hired by Jeanne Geiger in October 2004, according to court documents, and was promoted to general manager and placed in charge of the financial management of the inn. She treated the inn’s bookkeeping, was authorized to make purchases, sign checks, use the inn’s credit card, and paid the bills and treated payroll.
According to the report written by Newbury Sgt. Pattie Fisher, she met with Julian Geiger on June 22, 2010, about a week after he had confronted Beaudry, after noticing things weren’t right in the inn’s bookkeeping. According to court documents, Beaudry admitted she had “borrowed” $Ten,000 from the inn’s accounts and instantaneously wrote Geiger a individual check to substitute it. After receiving her $Ten,000 check, Geiger told Beaudry to proceed her work and they’d “readdress” the issue.
However, when Geiger realized Beaudry spent the next day “shredding evidence of her embezzlement,” he fired her, Fisher noted in her report, and then, he hired a forensic accountant to investigate the situation. Geiger told Fisher he estimated that Beaudry may have taken as much as $100,000 over her years working at the inn.
Fisher referred the case to Newbury Detective Aaron Wojtkowski who interviewed Geiger, confiscated four bags of shredded documents and the computer Beaudry used at the inn. He also investigated the transaction histories of the inn’s credit cards, including one that had belonged to Geiger’s late wifey, Jeanne.
With the help of Trooper Brandon Arekelian of the Maynard State Police Crime Lab, the computer’s hard drive was searched and questionable transactions found. Credit card records also displayed suspicious charges on them, including on the late Jeanne Geiger’s card, which showcased activity years after her death.
According to court documents, charges can be traced to vacation resorts in Fresh Hampshire, Massachusetts and Nevada, airline tickets, $7,241 to a concrete foundation company working at Beaudry’s fresh home in Sandown, N.H., as well as $1,700 at a Portsmouth, N.H., car dealership and numerous retail establishments, such as Fucktoys “R” Us and Home Depot.
According to Wojtkowski, the total of questionable transactions added up to more than $151,215 and included $56,023 to the inn’s credit card, $28,775 to the late Jeanne Geiger’s credit card, $36,595 in debit transactions against the inn’s account, $Ten,757 in questionable checks paid on the inn’s account and $Nineteen,063 in checks made payable to Beaudry herself.
According to Assistant District Attorney Michelle Belmonte, who treated the case, the restitution figure of $42,759 represents the amount of illegal transactions that could be proven against Beaudry.
Noted on Beaudry’s court docket is that Duquette Alternative Sentencing will be in place for two years. According to Assistant District Attorney Maura Bailey, Duquette Alternative Sentencing is an agreement signed by defendants stipulating that if they crack probation conditions, they will serve out the remainder of their probation in jail.