BELFAST — A Belfast woman was arrested Jan. 9 on charges of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer after authorities said she allegedly embezzled more than $100,000 from a Belfast furniture store.

Lauri J. Dawson, 56, of Belfast, has since been released on $5,000 unsecured bond.

In a court affidavit filed by Detective Bryan Cunningham, of the Belfast Police Department, authorities were first made aware of the issue March 11, when Brent Macleod and Scott Macleod visited Belfast Police Chief Michael McFadden with an attorney to provide results of a forensic audit, which was completed by Norton and Masters Accounting firm in Rockland.

Detective Cunningham said Attorney Randy Mailloux explained to McFadden the scope of the audit, which included financial records for Macleod’s Furniture, in downtown Belfast, from 2008 to date. Mailloux reportedly told McFadden that the audit indicated Lauri J. Dawson, who is owner of 15 percent of Macleod’s Furniture, embezzled more than $130,000 while working as bookkeeper for the family business from 2008-2012.

Scott Macleod, who works for Macleod’s Furniture, told McFadden he had noticed financial troubles within the company, including difficulty paying federal and state tax obligations. Macleod said he discovered liens from the state and federal government had been placed on the property.

Mailloux told Chief McFadden that attempts had been made to handle the situation between family members before involving police, to no avail.

In the affidavit, Scott Macleod told McFadden he’d offered his sister a way out of the situation when their mother recently passed, leaving enough for Lauri Dawson to pay her personal debt to the federal government, which he estimated as, “close to $100,000.” One of the caveats of that agreement was that she would have to sign over her interest in Macleod’s Furniture, the affidavit said. Despite the offer, both Scott and Brent Macleod reported they had not heard back from their sister regarding the offer in “months,” leading them to involve Belfast Police.

During the audit it was discovered that in 2008, a year with 53 pay periods, Dawson had issued herself 56 paychecks, according to documents. During 2009, which also had 53 pay periods, she allegedly issued herself 79 paychecks. In 2010, she issued herself 10 extra pay checks; in 2011, 14 extra paychecks were issued; and eight paychecks were issued from Jan. 1, 2012 to Feb. 4, 2012. That netted more than $39,000 in extra paychecks.

Approximately $20,000 was allegedly embezzled via checks written to Dawson and her son from 2008-2013, checks that the audit found weren’t entered into the company’s financial records or were entered incorrectly.  

The audit identified “obvious misappropriations” of $83,003.35, which is the amount listed on the official complaint filed with Waldo County Superior Court.

Dawson is scheduled to appear in Superior Court Jan. 30. 

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com