A former secretary at a school in Hebron is accused of stealing over $40,000 from the district and reportedly spent the money on hundreds of personal Amazon items over the course of multiple years.
State police said they began investigating RHAM Central Office secretary Christine Vardanian in May when they learned she may have been using the district Amazon account to buy items for herself and paid for them with district money.
According to an arrest warrant, investigators found that Vardanian, of Marlborough, had purchased an iPad around May 16. As investigators were checking order confirmations, the arrest warrant states they found purchases including a laptop, a printer, portable chargers, an exercise hip thrust belt, a Nintendo Switch accessory bundle, wireless Bluetooth headphones and 23 other items that didn't appear to be items that the school would purchase.
Authorities said they checked school video and saw Vardanian bringing boxes to her car on May 6 and May 7. The video also reportedly appeared to show her giving an iPad to a RHAM facilities employee on May 2 and boxes from Vardanian could reportedly be seen being brought to his vehicle on May 20.
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As authorities continued investigating, officials went back and looked at Vardanian's order history. While searching, authorities said they went back about two years and found approximately $16,000 of suspicious Amazon purchases. The account that was used was specific to her and no one else had access to it, state police said.
Officials said she began making purchases for the school district in 2019 and investigators found purchases including protein shakes, clothing, jewelry, exercise equipment, electronics and computers. It was also believed she may have ordered multiple televisions.
A spreadsheet was drafted by investigators and authorities said there were approximately 878 suspicious items purchased. The final value of the items was a little over $40,000.
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During the investigation, the district confronted Vardanian about their findings. She reportedly asked if she could return the items or pay them back and then allegedly took responsibility for what she had done. Her employment was then terminated.
Vardanian turned herself in on an active arrest warrant on Wednesday. She was taken into custody and processed. She was charged with larceny and was released on a $5,000 bond. Vardanian is due in court on November 4.
