ELLSWORTH – An Exeter woman accused of stealing more than $300,000 from a Surry forester is behind bars and finally may face charges for allegedly embezzling more than $100,000 from a Bangor restaurant in 2002.

Cecelia G. White, 40, wore an orange shirt and green pants issued by Hancock County Jail as she appeared Thursday in Ellsworth District Court. White has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from David and Jean Warren when she worked as a part-time bookkeeper for the couple’s forestry business from July 2002 to June 2004, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Ellsworth District Court.

Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich told Superior Court Justice Roland Cole, who sat in as a district court judge for White’s appearance, that law enforcement officials again are looking into allegations that White stole $107,000 from Bangor restaurant Asian Palace in 2001.

“I’ve been informed that that investigation is being reopened,” the prosecutor told the judge.

Outside the courtroom, Povich declined to comment on any allegations against White.

According to the affidavit, signed Jan. 6 by Maine State Police Detective David Preble, White wrote or processed 396 unauthorized checks from the Warrens’ business over a 99-week period. White was paid $240 a week, or $12,480 a year, for the bookkeeping work she did for the Warrens, the document indicated.

White, who in 2001 worked as a bookkeeper for the Bangor restaurant, was ordered in 2002 to repay the $107,000 to Asian Palace owner Marilyn Lau after Lau successfully sued White in Penobscot County Superior Court. White, for reasons officials could not or would not explain, has not been prosecuted in Penobscot County in connection with the alleged restaurant embezzlement.

Justice Cole set White’s bail at $50,000 surety or $10,000 cash.

Povich, citing the high dollar figures involved in the charges against White, had asked Cole for a bail of either $100,000 surety or $50,000 cash. He said she might be a flight risk, an assertion disputed by Ellsworth defense attorney Jeffrey Toothaker, who represented White during the proceeding.

White told Cole she is trying to hire Bangor attorney Joseph Baldacci, who represented her in the civil lawsuit in the alleged Surry embezzlement.

Toothaker said White has two children attending Dexter High School and extensive family in the Bangor area.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Toothaker told Cole.

The judge told Povich that if White fled the state, she simply would be found and brought back to Maine.

“That would be evidence of guilt,” Cole said. “That would be one of the most ill-advised things she could do.”

Povich said that investigators have not been able to determine what became of the money White is accused of stealing from the Warrens.

“We can’t seem to find it,” he said. “There are no assets to seize.”

White showed little emotion during the brief appearance. Moments after telling Cole her Exeter home is valued at $34,000 and that she may be able to borrow $10,000 from a relative’s retirement account, she interjected in the proceeding and told the judge she also had a Toyota Corolla. Toothaker repeatedly shushed White to be quiet before she stayed silent.

A few seconds later, White sat down on a nearby bench, covered her face with her hand and shook her head as an older female inmate, dressed in identical prison clothing, put her arm around White and patted her on the shoulder. White is separated from her husband, she had told Toothaker.