Conn. Woman Suspected of $830,000 Theft From Veterans Group

A Darien, Conn., woman was arrested Monday on charges of embezzling some $186,000 last year from a veterans’ charity where she worked as a bookkeeper, and authorities believe the true theft amount could be more than four times higher, according to the Darien News.

Cynthia Tanner, 52, was jailed on a $500,000 bond after being arraigned on a charge of first-degree larceny. She did not enter a plea. Police say she wrote more than 135 checks from the National Veteran Services Fund to herself or family members last year, entering them in financial ledgers as payments to veterans or clients of the charity.

Investigators allege that Ms. Tanner, who joined the fund in 2008, began embezzling five years ago and that once the inquiry is complete the charity’s losses could exceed $830,000. The organization notified police last month after an accounting firm found irregularities in its books.

The Darien-based nonprofit received a zero-star rating from Charity Navigator for the 2011-12 fiscal year for spending 70 percent of its $9.1-million in revenue on fundraising efforts. It ranked eighth in the list of America’s 50 “worst charities” compiled last year by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting, which rated nonprofits based on their spending on professional solicitors.