Maine woman gets two years for stealing $200G from Portsmouth employer

CONCORD - A Maine woman was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months in federal prison for wire and mail fraud, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced today.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Raylene Vaillancourt, 68, of Eliot, Maine, worked as the office manager for "Business A," a limited liability company based in Portsmouth where Vaillancourt was responsible for accounting and making payments to vendors.

Between at least April of 2009 and May of 2018, Vaillancourt embezzled money from the business and its owner through various means, including: making fraudulent checks drawn on Business A's checking account; making unauthorized transfers to her personal financial accounts for her personal expenses; and making unauthorized online payments from Business A's checking account to pay her personal credit card debt.

As part of Vaillancourt's scheme, she altered Business A's internal accounting records to conceal her embezzlement from her employer. In total, Business A lost around $200,000 due to the defendant's scheme.

Court documents also show that Vaillancourt stole money from at least three prior employers and previously was convicted of a federal charge of bank theft.

Vaillancourt previously pleaded guilty on June 17. In addition to her prison sentence, she was ordered to pay restitution and forfeit $203,106.32 to the United States.

"Like many white-collar criminals, this defendant took advantage of the trust of others to steal large sums of money," said U.S. Attorney John Farley. "By embezzling over $200,000 from her employer, Ms. Vaillancourt's brazen actions caused significant financial harm and showed that she was not deterred from crime by a prior federal conviction. As this case demonstrates, we work closely with the FBI to identify and prosecute fraudsters and seek justice for the victims of their heartless crimes."

"On at least four occasions, Raylene Vaillancourt abused the trust of her employers by stealing from them. In this case, she embezzled more than $122,0000 to pay the mortgage on her home in Portsmouth. Ms. Vaillancourt has shown absolutely no remorse, and no respect for the law, and with today's sentence, her crime spree has finally come to an end and she has been held accountable," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.