CUMBERLAND, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island State Police say the Cumberland fire district’s former tax collector has been charged with embezzling nearly $84,000 from her ex-employer.
Authorities arrested 48-year-old Karen Lambert of Cumberland on Friday. She’s accused of embezzling cash tax receipts of nearly $84,000 from the fire district between September 2008 and August 2013.
She also allegedly embezzled $11,700 from a Woonsocket property management company where she was a bookkeeper and used the money to try to cover up the alleged fire district theft.
She was released on $20,000 personal recognizance and is due in court June 2.
Lambert was hired as assistant tax collector in 2006 before being promoted to tax collector in 2008.
Someone who answered the phone at her residence said she wasn’t home but wouldn’t want to talk.
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