Recordpub.com - Mantua ex-clerk accused of theft: Allegedly stole village funds

ElectHeadshot101807RAV_15 Betsy M. Woolf

By Dave O’Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

A Mantua woman who for 10 years was the elected clerk/treasurer of the village of Mantua was indicted Tuesday by a Portage County grand jury on a total of six felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly stealing village funds while in office.

Betsy M. Woolf, 60, of 4755 Glenwood St., was arrested Tuesday night and booked into the Portage County jail, accused of felony theft and tampering with records.

Two counts of the six-count indictment allege that on or about Jan. 4, 2008 and Feb. 22, 2008, Woolf used her position as clerk/treasurer to commit a theft. Both are fifth-degree felonies. The second count of the indictment, a fourth-degree felony, alleges the theft was in excess of $500 but less than $5,000.

The three counts of tampering with records, all misdemeanors, accuse Woolf of trying to cover up the alleged thefts by manipulating or destroying records.

Woolf was the elected clerk/treasurer of Mantua from 1998 until April 2008 after being defeated in the November 2007 election by current officeholder Jenny August.

At a March 18, 2008, meeting, while Woolf was still clerk/treasurer, Mantua Mayor Donna Hawkins read a proclamation in Woolf’s honor and presented her with an engraved clock “for her dedicated service to the village,” according to minutes of the meeting on the village Web site.

In a statement released Wednesday, Hawkins said the village found some funds were unaccounted for while going over its books last year. Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor’s office was contacted to go over the village’s financial records and the village “turned over all available information to them,” according to Hawkins.

“The state auditor’s office has not provided us with the results of their audit as of yet, therefore we do not know what their findings will be,” Hawkins said.

Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci would not say how much money Woolf is accused of stealing, saying those facts would be presented at trial. His office will prosecute the charges based on the initial investigation by the state auditors, he said.

Mantua currently is in “fiscal watch,” according to Taylor’s office. Another audit is scheduled to take place soon, Hawkins said.

“I’m confident we’ll come out of that” with positive news, she said when reached by phone Wednesday.

Woolf also is the former clerk/treasurer for the Mantua-Shalersville Fire District, which serves the village of Mantua and Mantua and Shalersville townships, but was replaced this summer, Fire Chief Joseph Stoneberg said.

The theft accusations are not related to the operations of the fire department, he said,

Woolf posted a $20,000 personal recognizance bond Wednesday. She is scheduled to be arraigned at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 by Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman.

She is represented by Cleveland attorney Stuart Lippe, according to court records.

Stoneberg said he and other fire department personnel have worked with Woolf “for a long time” and “wish her the best.”

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.

6.	Posted by sowhat October 29, 2009
	The same old thing again "innocent until guilty" of course, of course and wish her all the best RIGHT Stoneberg. There Must be accountability, Background check must be for all. No and ifs about it....just do it. Far too many people are hired in a position that has revenue floating about and the audits are not done a timely fashion, that lets years go by before....OH know we are in a fiscal problem...Wake up people. It is not because of the economy, it is pure greed, over indulgence, living beyond your means, the "me" syndrome. Well get it Stopped ! Their thievery always falls back to raising your tax, raising property revenue, increase sale tax, because the money that is stolen is taken out of the general fund. We are paying for this crime. Far too many do it because they can, just look around how many in just the year here in Ravenna, Streetsboro,Kent that are entrusted with the honesty. The fines for those were nothing compared to the long lasting problem left behind because of them. Slap them down, fed up with inside crime.