Employee accused of stealing from VFW

BY ROBERT L. BAKER

A 44-year-old Nicholson woman accused of stealing nearly $20,000 over a 10-month period from the VFW Post in Lenox had charges bound over toSusquehanna County Courton Tuesday afternoon.

Rosemary Griffis ofBarney Hollow Road, appeared before Magisterial District Judge Suzanne Brainard in Clifford.

Under a plea agreement, Griffis is not likely to face jail time so long as she makes restitution in the amount of $18,500, DA Jason Legg said.

According to a police criminal complaint filed by Trooper John Oliver, two representatives of the post, Albert Urda andHerbertPeak, came to the State Police barracks at Gibson to report that during a records check of the VFW building account, it was discovered that $20,245 was missing.

The complaint notes that cancelled checks showed that Griffis, a 19-year employee of the post with multiple job roles including co-manager, bartender and bookkeeper was writing checks to “cash” and then kept the money.

Urda provided cancelled checks with Griffis name on them and said, according to the complaint, she started taking money in December 2010 and stopped in September when confronted by the VFW officials.

To them, she denied the allegations, and in an interview with state police she initially stated that all the money was used for the VFW.

After police asked her to detail the purchases, the complaint said she could not, but she then admitted she took $4,500 because she needed to fix her truck.

She remains free on $25,000 unsecured bail.

Her county arraignment date has not been set.