Money allegedly stolen by worker in Calais to be returned by bank

CALAIS – The Savings Bank of Maine has agreed to reimburse the local school department the nearly $200,000 that an employee at the Calais Day Treatment Program allegedly stole and deposited into her account.

Tina Moholland, 36, was charged with stealing $197,000 between Sept. 23, 2004, and Nov. 9, 2007, from the day treatment program. She made her first appearance in court earlier this year. If convicted she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

The theft involved a total of 29 checks paid to the city.

Moholland allegedly deposited the checks in her own accounts even though they were made out to the city’s Calais Day Treatment Program. One check allegedly was deposited to her account at Bangor Savings Bank. The other 28 checks allegedly were deposited to her account at Savings Bank of Maine, formerly Gardiner Savings Institution and Calais Federal Savings and Loan Association.

Superintendent James Underwood told the City Council at a workshop meeting Thursday night that the bank has agreed to make good on those checks.

“So between the $10,000 insurance and the little money we were able to retrieve, the Savings Bank of Maine has agreed to give us all of the rest of the money back,” Underwood said.

A representative of the bank did not attend the Thursday night meeting and was unavailable for comment.

“We are grateful that the Savings Bank of Maine was willing to make up the loss while we all await the outcome of the charges against Ms. Moholland. It was a difficult situation for all of us, and we are glad the bank has assisted in concluding the financial situation satisfactorily,” Underwood said in a prepared statement that he handed to the councilors.

For the past seven years, Moholland worked as a secretary, receptionist and bookkeeper for the Calais Day Treatment Program. Her job was to bill districts that sent students to the day treatment program. The tuition money was logged under a grant the city treatment center had received, and the state would deduct that amount from the grant, school officials said shortly after Moholland was charged. But Moholland allegedly was depositing the tuition checks in her own accounts.

The day treatment program has about 40 students ages 7 to 18. As of November, the school department no longer employed Moholland.

While the Calais school system operates the day treatment program, Washington County Psychotherapy Associates is the owner and operator of the Calais Children’s Project, which treats children who suffer from a variety of medical, emotional, neurological and behavioral problems that require residential treatment.

When the facility was set up nearly a decade ago, WCPA and the Calais city school system agreed that the school system would develop the day treatment program.