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Date: 9/6/2017
EAST LONGMEADOW – A former member of the East Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department and town resident has been terminated and is being charged with a single count of Larceny over $250 according to the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office Public and Media Information Director James Leydon.
John Matte, 47, of East Longmeadow was arraigned on July 24 in Palmer District court following a criminal claim by the East Longmeadow Police Department.
According to Town Manager Denise Menard, Matte was terminated from his position on the Parks and Recreation Department once the town received word that he had embezzled $61,184 from the department.
“He was terminated in early spring, it was not a secret,” Menard said. “We did the right thing in terminating and filing charges against that individual.”
“The charge stems from an alleged scheme to defraud the Town of East Longmeadow. This is an open and active investigation,” Leydon told Reminder Publications.
Matte is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Sept. 20 at Palmer District Court. Menard confirmed that though the money was stolen, it came from a general fund for the Parks and Recreation Department and was not taken from a specific project.
“The town is looking for restitution,” Menard said.
Court documents obtained by Reminder Publications state the police investigation began when Menard was notified by Town Counsel James Donahue that Matte’s attorney, Cornelius W. Phillips of Phillips & Dunn P.C. sent him a letter in which Matte confessed to taking money while performing his duties as a part-time clerk for the Recreation Department.
The letter indicated Matte was “remorseful” and wished to resign from his position and repay what he took to the town.
According to the narrative written by Detective Joseph Barone, Matte admitted to stealing money from the Recreation Department for a period of 18 months to two years. An independent audit by Thomas Scanlon of Scanlon & Associates, however, showed that $61,184 was missing during a three-year period with approximately $20,000 a year missing annually.
During an interview with police Matte refuted that figure, but could not say how much he took, nor could he say what he did with the money.
Matte allegedly would take the cash when putting payments from registrations for Recreation Department activities into the safe. Matte, who would handle a large percentage of these registrations, said he would take $200 or more at a time. Police said, for example, if the computer indicated a $600 deposit, he would take $200 and rearrange the paperwork to reflect a $400 deposit. Then-Recreation Director Colin Drury would compare the deposits to the receipts and if the two matched, he would approve the paperwork.
“Basically Mr. Matte was changing the figures on his sheet he submitted for review against the correct amount in the computer,” Barone wrote. “Mr. Matte said as long as the money balanced with the total amount noted on his sheet, the missing money went undetected.”
According to Scanlon’s report to police, during periods in which Matte was out of work for health reasons, no money was missing.
Matte told police he initially performed this fraudulent activity with the intention of repaying the money when he received his bi-weekly paycheck, knowing the department deposited its revenues infrequently.
However, when a new mandate required the Recreation Department make weekly deposits, he said he continued to take money that he was unable to repay.
He claimed personal and health issues, along with extra hours of employment causing him to lose his Social Security Insurance for four months prompted him to engage in the illegal behavior.
Drury expressed surprise when interviewed by police, stating his department only had shortfalls of $9.04 in revenue and $4.81 in expenses and had no issue balancing his books with the town administration. Town Accountant Sara Menard told police she sought to reconcile the Recreation Department’s budget with Drury for 1 ½ years, citing a number of unbalanced line items and questions regarding the overall budget.
Matte told police he acted alone.
In a statement, Town Council President Kevin Manley confirmed that an investigation was immediately conducted by the East Longmeadow Police Department.
“The investigation conducted by members of the Police Department was not only thorough but professional. This investigation resulted in the town filing criminal charges against Mr. Matte. Additionally, we were able to identify areas within the Recreation Department in need of correction and corrective action has been take to avoid issues of this nature in the future,” Manley said.