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Alleged theft at Smuggs
- Thread starter VTKilarney
- Start date
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
And there are idiot politicians in this country trying to make it "illegal" to ask a prospective employee whether they've every been convicted of a felony.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Another problem is how incredibly lax the punishments in Vermont's legal system generally are.
This woman stole $70,000, only repaid $20,000, and did less than 3 months in jail. A lot of people in this country wouldnt call that a "punishment", they'd call it a "great deal".
This woman stole $70,000, only repaid $20,000, and did less than 3 months in jail. A lot of people in this country wouldnt call that a "punishment", they'd call it a "great deal".
gmcunni
Active member
are background and criminal history checks not standard employment screenings in VT?
I hate to say it, but this has become the new norm in Vermont. Over the past couple years there have been at least three town clerks, one administrator for a public utility, two folks in the private sector, and probably many others we have not heard of. For a small state this is a huge problem.
There also is an attitude amongst some that they can do what they want with public money without regards to the law. What am I talking about? Google Mayor Bob Kiss and his assistant Mr. Leopold and Burlington Telecom. BTV will never see the $16 mill in tax dollars that they illegally "loaned" to their brainchild. They got off with no charges despite (obviously) violating state law with regards to allocation of public funds and a clear mandate from the State not to use taxpayer dollars for the scheme.
A couple weeks ago there was news about this particularly insidious scheme that an official in the State's very own risk department hatched so she could go shopping on eBay with tax dollars and NOBODY caught on until a guy selling a $6,000 guitar got a check FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT and was decent enough to call the State and ask about it. It's a sad day when a guy in bankrupt Michigan is commenting about how badly Vermont is running:
http://www.wcax.com/story/25312372/embezzlement-case-prompts-changes-from-vt-officials
That is pretty outrageous. It just shows that some have this idea that everyone can be trusted in Vermont and that is just not the case. It also shows that people are pretty desperate and have no respect for the law or what is right. The woman I just mentioned stole money from the State to pay her own property taxes.
How Smuggs missed this is beyond me. I would have thought that this woman would not be able to find work with anyone after stealing so much money from her employer.
The constant embezzlement cases, and the constant news about crime and drugs in Vermont, make me
uke: about what has become of my home state. I'm so :angry: about it.
There also is an attitude amongst some that they can do what they want with public money without regards to the law. What am I talking about? Google Mayor Bob Kiss and his assistant Mr. Leopold and Burlington Telecom. BTV will never see the $16 mill in tax dollars that they illegally "loaned" to their brainchild. They got off with no charges despite (obviously) violating state law with regards to allocation of public funds and a clear mandate from the State not to use taxpayer dollars for the scheme.
A couple weeks ago there was news about this particularly insidious scheme that an official in the State's very own risk department hatched so she could go shopping on eBay with tax dollars and NOBODY caught on until a guy selling a $6,000 guitar got a check FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT and was decent enough to call the State and ask about it. It's a sad day when a guy in bankrupt Michigan is commenting about how badly Vermont is running:
http://www.wcax.com/story/25312372/embezzlement-case-prompts-changes-from-vt-officials
That is pretty outrageous. It just shows that some have this idea that everyone can be trusted in Vermont and that is just not the case. It also shows that people are pretty desperate and have no respect for the law or what is right. The woman I just mentioned stole money from the State to pay her own property taxes.
How Smuggs missed this is beyond me. I would have thought that this woman would not be able to find work with anyone after stealing so much money from her employer.
The constant embezzlement cases, and the constant news about crime and drugs in Vermont, make me
uke: about what has become of my home state. I'm so :angry: about it.
It is a NNE problem. No opportunity, lots of depression, etc.
I was expecting the original news story to be tied to drugs... i.e. Someone needing to fund their habit.
People were pissed about the recent Rolling Stone article because "how dare they mock Vermont Maple Sugarers as druggies." But get beyond the provocative cartoon image in the article and you'll read a sad and disturbing account of reality. The public bathrooms in the BTV library are now locked because toilets and sinks were routinely clogged by needles. WTF?!
The opiate problem has spread all over New England, both urban and rural. Pretty awful down in Mass but that's nothing really all that new.
At least the meth thing never caught on real strong, tweakers are a special kind of addicted and will steal any/everything
At least the meth thing never caught on real strong, tweakers are a special kind of addicted and will steal any/everything
VTKilarney
Well-known member
I've got way too many thoughts to put down at this point in time, but here are a couple of prominent ones.
1) We don't know if this alleged theft, or some of the others mentioned, had anything to do with drugs. Theft from an employer assumes that one can hold down a job, which most heroin addicts cannot.
2) The war on poverty has done absolutely nothing to alleviate drug dependency (and poverty for that matter). I'm not sure if either political party has an answer, but somebody needs to take a serious look at the way we are doing things right now.
3) In addition to heroin, prescription abuse is rampant in Vermont. It makes the heroin problem look like a walk in the park.
4) Vermont has always had poverty. But before X-Box and 24 hour cable television, kids in poverty stricken homes got out and played. They learned how to make things. They learned how to interact with each other. Today's poverty stricken children never develop those skills. They sit in front of the big screen television watching whatever their parents are watching and their brains pickle. It is a huge problem that is not going away.
1) We don't know if this alleged theft, or some of the others mentioned, had anything to do with drugs. Theft from an employer assumes that one can hold down a job, which most heroin addicts cannot.
2) The war on poverty has done absolutely nothing to alleviate drug dependency (and poverty for that matter). I'm not sure if either political party has an answer, but somebody needs to take a serious look at the way we are doing things right now.
3) In addition to heroin, prescription abuse is rampant in Vermont. It makes the heroin problem look like a walk in the park.
4) Vermont has always had poverty. But before X-Box and 24 hour cable television, kids in poverty stricken homes got out and played. They learned how to make things. They learned how to interact with each other. Today's poverty stricken children never develop those skills. They sit in front of the big screen television watching whatever their parents are watching and their brains pickle. It is a huge problem that is not going away.
MadMadWorld
Active member
Who the hell supports that legislation?
gmcunni
Active member
Andrea Miller
dlague
Active member
C-Rex
New member
Off topic but:
The heroin (and opiates in general) problem is all over the place. It often starts with irresponsible doctors over prescribing pain medications and then cutting their patients off with no thought toward the addiction that may have set in. Then those people turn to the street because, well, opiate withdrawals really suck. They often stick to pills as much as they can, but it's only a matter of time until they either become too hard to find or too expensive, and the person switches to heroin.
Addiction treatment needs serious revamping. Aside from being extremely cost prohibitive, there is no standard for treatment. Some doctors prescribe drugs like Suboxone or Zubsolv (opiate dependency drugs) with no counseling or accountability attached. Methadone is more dangerous than the drugs themselves, and dispensaries basically reinforce addict behavior. And don't even get me started on insurance companies.
I have a couple friends that I have helped deal with these issues, so I know first hand. The sad thing is that, proper care programs are truly very effective. It's really too bad that our government is too retarded to help the situation.
On topic:
It is surprising that Smuggs hired her, but seeing as it was a long time ago, they may have looked at it like, "Well, she's learned her lesson. Let's give her a shot." And then she screwed them. The consequences for people that betray a second chance should be extremely harsh, IMO. It's one thing to make a mistake, or do something bad once. But, when a person or organization is willing to look past it, and you use that trust to screw them, that just shows that you are a waste of living tissue and not fit to be a member of society. I hope they throw the book at her.
The heroin (and opiates in general) problem is all over the place. It often starts with irresponsible doctors over prescribing pain medications and then cutting their patients off with no thought toward the addiction that may have set in. Then those people turn to the street because, well, opiate withdrawals really suck. They often stick to pills as much as they can, but it's only a matter of time until they either become too hard to find or too expensive, and the person switches to heroin.
Addiction treatment needs serious revamping. Aside from being extremely cost prohibitive, there is no standard for treatment. Some doctors prescribe drugs like Suboxone or Zubsolv (opiate dependency drugs) with no counseling or accountability attached. Methadone is more dangerous than the drugs themselves, and dispensaries basically reinforce addict behavior. And don't even get me started on insurance companies.
I have a couple friends that I have helped deal with these issues, so I know first hand. The sad thing is that, proper care programs are truly very effective. It's really too bad that our government is too retarded to help the situation.
On topic:
It is surprising that Smuggs hired her, but seeing as it was a long time ago, they may have looked at it like, "Well, she's learned her lesson. Let's give her a shot." And then she screwed them. The consequences for people that betray a second chance should be extremely harsh, IMO. It's one thing to make a mistake, or do something bad once. But, when a person or organization is willing to look past it, and you use that trust to screw them, that just shows that you are a waste of living tissue and not fit to be a member of society. I hope they throw the book at her.
MadMadWorld
Active member
An opportunity to share my professional experience.....embezzles are master manipulators and some of the biggest pathological liars I have ever met. Their lies become their reality and they are usually REALLY good about hiding things and making people believe that it's a clerical error or something else. By the time the heat is on them, they have already stolen tons of money. I investigate stuff like this on a daily basis here in Massachusetts. Mostly it's some middleman drug dealer in Roxbury but I get these kind of things from time to time.
Working in law enforcement I can tell you opiates are a huge problem in Massachusetts. From investigations I have been involved with I can also tell you that it has spread to other parts of NE. In Massachusetts, the New Bedford/Fall River area really has an epidemic on their hands. It started with a number of quack doctors on the south shore/cape who prescribed Oxycontin and other crap to anyone and their mother who had the cash. The DEA shut down most of these doctors so a lot of people had to switch to what was available....heroin.
MadMadWorld
Active member
Stealing 70,000 is not a mistake. The mistake was her getting caught. I hope Smuggs has learned it's lesson and has hired a reputable firm to audit their accounting.
C-Rex
New member
No, I didn't mean to say it was a mistake, I was just talking about second chances in general.
From my understanding most prescription addicts in Vermont are finding it tougher to find drugs and are switching over to heroin.
bobbutts
New member
Things are so bad now, so great when we were kids.. Every generation says this.
There have always been and always will be thieves and drug abusers.
There have always been and always will be thieves and drug abusers.
MadMadWorld
Active member
The prescription monitoring systems make it difficult or impossible for doctors to fly under the radar. These doctors get busted and nothing is done to help patients of these doctors. A Massachusetts doctor was just arrested a few months ago for over prescribing and insurance fraud. He had 6 offices all over Massachusetts with 1 or 2 PAs prescribing for him at each location. Patients would fail drug tests over and over again with no consequences. The prescriptions he wrote were ridiculous and would kill a person just by taking his prescriptions as prescribed. As long as he could keep billing the insurance company he was happy. And boy did he charge them! The final straw was that police found his prescription bottles on 5 overdoses. Sorry for the rant but this is the stuff that really pisses me off. These are my favorite people to nail.
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