March 29, 2024
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Ex-agents sentenced in insurance firm theft

MACHIAS – Two former licensed insurance agents who stole more than $45,000 in cash premiums last year from their employer in Calais have been sentenced to six months in prison.

Heather Morrison-Malloch, 33, of Eastport, who worked for Varney Agency Inc. on North Street in Calais, and her co-conspirator, Amanda Stanhope, 26, of Robbinston, were sentenced earlier this month in Washington County Superior Court.

Each of the two, who were colleagues and friends, were sentenced to three years with all but six months suspended and jointly ordered to pay $45,525 in restitution to the insurance company. They were placed on probation for four years.

As part of their probation conditions, the women were ordered to maintain a drug log, disclose any medications prescribed by their physician and not have contact with each other.

The two were indicted by a Washington County grand jury last year and charged with theft by unauthorized taking or transfer. They could have received up to 10 years in prison.

The North Street insurance office in Calais was a two-person operation, with Morrison-Malloch as the manager.

In April, the Varney office in Bangor contacted Calais police about the theft. Company officials had become suspicious, police said, after money was not accounted for. When the company discovered the discrepancies, it sent an accountant and some of its other agents to review the local agency’s books.

The company has 17 branches, but the problem occurred only at the Calais office, Varney said.

Shortly after the two women were arrested, the company appointed Wendy Smith of Calais as branch manager.

Correction: This article ran on page B3 in the State edition.

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