Connecticut Bookkeeper Charged with Embezzling $800K from Veterans Organization

A Connecticut bookkeeper has been accused of embezzling more than $830,000 from a nonprofit veterans' organization, police said.

Cynthia Tanner, of Darien, Connecticut, has served as bookkeeper for the National Veterans Services Fund since 2008, police said. She turned herself in on Monday and was charged with first-degree larceny, police said.

Police estimated that over the past five years, Tanner embezzled more than $830,000 from the organization, which accepts donations to assist veterans and their families across the country. Tanner was accused of writing unauthorized checks to herself and relatives from the organization's accounts.

Police said that in 2013, alone, Tanner wrote 135 unauthorized checks for a total of $185,000. Tanner altered the financial ledger to show that the checks were written to veterans or clients of the organization, police said.

She also made electronic payments on her car loan using the organization's funds and used company credit cards for personal expenses such as airfare, vacations and Internet purchases, police said.

An accounting firm noticed irregularities in the organization's financial statements and informed President Phillip Kraft, who brought the concerns to police in late May.

Kraft said Monday that the group is “very happy with the prompt action” of the Darien police.

Tanner was held on $250,000 bail, police said.