Vernon Police have arrested a former Board of Education employee, who is accused of stealing hundreds of dollars from a school cafeteria.
Police said they were notified by the Vernon Board of Education and the Town of Vernon about a possible embezzlement from the Food Service funds.
Detectives conducted an investigation that resulted in the arrest of 54-year-old Paul Olson, of Cheshire. Olson, who was previously employed as the Director of Food and Nutrition for the Vernon Board of Education, surrendered himself to police on Thursday after learning of a warrant for his arrest.
Olson is accused of stealing a cash deposit of about $648 from school cafeteria revenue, while he was serving as director.
Police said the learned that Olson was designated to receive cash deposits from each school cafeteria in a locked bag. He would then process the cash and checks and prepare them for a bank account. A courier transported the money from the schools to Olson and then to the bank for deposit.
According to police, during one of the transactions, the courier noticed that single deposit bag was missing. Olson allegedly told the courier that he had directly deposited those funds into the bank, which violated the internal financial controls and town policy.
Officers said the courier immediately alerted a member of the Town of Vernon Finance Staff, who then reported the irregularity to the administration. The administration determined that it was likely a theft and called police.
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Vernon Police did a joint investigation with the Board of Education and Town of Vernon Finance Department.
Investigators believe Olson forged the signature of the courier on a log documenting the deposit bag. He also is accused of giving a false statement to the detectives who were investigating the theft.
Olson is facing charges including larceny, false statement, criminal impersonation, identity theft and forgery. He posted his $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on December 11.
