Embezzlement figure growing in Norway

NORWAY – The amount of money believed to have been embezzled from the town has doubled from previous figures.

Town Manager David Holt told residents at a special town meeting Thursday night that an audit is almost complete and officials now believe more than $100,000 has been taken over the course of more than a decade.

Longtime Community Development Director Deborah Wyman was charged in March with transferring funds to her personal checking account. At the time, she was believed to have taken more than $55,000, according to a state police affidavit.

Holt’s announcement came at a meeting where residents voted to tap a surplus fund to pay $40,000 to auditors and lawyers who are cleaning up the mess.

Selectman Les Flanders told residents who questioned how the embezzlement dating to the early 1990s had gone unnoticed that the Community Development Block Grant funds were supposed to go to individuals and businesses.

“No one stepped forward to say they hadn’t been paid,” Flanders said. “These funds were supposed to be depleted.”

Wyman is currently free on $2,500 bail while awaiting trial on a Class B felony. Besides the criminal charge, the town has filed a civil suit against Wyman to recoup the missing money and expenses related to the case.