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Mass. woman charged with defrauding auctioneer pleads not guilty

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – A 72-year-old Hudson woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing more than $724,000 in cash and auctioned goods from her former employer.

Prosecutors say Joanne Shea, a former accounts receivable clerk for Skinner Inc., an auction house in Bolton, Mass., stole money and goods from her employer from 1993 through 2006 by using a “lapping” scheme.

Instead of depositing payments from sold auction items, Shea kept the money. Prosecutors say to cover the missing money, Shea applied incoming check payments of equivalent amounts to the company’s books.

Shea is charged with larceny over $250 and making false entries in corporate books.
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Information from: MetroWest Daily News, 
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com

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AP-ES-01-09-09 0730EST