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Did Wyman steal from businesses? by Wm. Duke Harrington NORWAY - Deb Wyman, a former Norway town employee accused of taking at least $100,000 in town grant money, allegedly stole from others as well during a years-long embezzlement spree, town officials believe. Wyman was arraigned in Oxford County Superior Court April 20, after being indicted for stealing from town grant funds. At the time, she had just returned from a three-month unpaid leave of absence as Norway's community development director. A warrant had been issued for her arrest while she was reportedly in the Caribbean, but was subsequently rescinded when Wyman volunteered to turn herself in. She was released on $2,500 cash bail, after which she was fired by Norway Town Manager David Holt. Following a continuance issued by Justice Roland Cole, at the request of Wyman's attorney, Edward Dilworth, of Norway, a September trail date was set. Holt says he now thinks additional Wyman victims include two Norway companies: Northeast Tool & Die and the Norway Branch Railroad Corporation. At Thursday's annual meeting of the railroad corporation, Holt said he has seen evidence indicating that, "over many years," Wyman took about $7,000 in payments from Northeast Tool & Die, made on a $75,000 loan issued jointly by the town and the railroad corp. "We've given evidence to the D.A. [District Attorney] showing repayments were somehow diverted into the account of Deb Wyman," said Holt. However, because the investigation is ongoing, Holt declined to say exactly how he believes Wyman diverted the money into her personal accounts, or describe how she may have doctored Norway Branch books so the missing money went unnoticed by the corporation's treasurer, John Morgan. For many years, Wyman was clerk for the railroad corporation, which owns the 60-foot-wide, mile-long, right-of-way to the old Norway Branch line. The line runs from Railroad Street in Paris, travels behind Androscoggin Bank, crosses Route 26, and is used as parking lots for Shaner's Restaurant and Bessey Motors. From there, it crosses Alpine and Pine Streets in Norway, and runs through a wooded area before ending at an apartment complex on Beal Street, across from the Norway fire station. Most of the railroad group's assets come from $50,000 it took in "about 30 years ago" when it sold land at the end of the line, where the station house used to be, to developer Bob Bahre - hence the name "Norway Station Apartments." However, the corporation also collects money from Shaner's and Bessey's, each of which lease sections of the right-of-way, as well as the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railway, which rents the remaining section of rail in Paris. Much of the Norway track was donated to help build the narrow-gauge railroad that runs in Portland, within sight of Casco Bay. According to Norway Branch President Dennis Gray, the railroad corporation pays property tax on its right-of-way in Norway, but is forgiven taxes in Paris since Railroad Street is built on its property. Trains last ran on Norway's side of the tracks in the late 1980s when the Wildner Wood Products mill closed. Even the rented rails in Paris see little use in modern times. Today, says Gray, the main business of the railroad corporation is to hold on to and maintain the right-of-way, in case some company along the old branch line ever requires rail service. Until that time comes, railroad directors occasionally lend out some of their money, through the town, which owns 75 percent of the corporation's stock. In 1992, Norway built on Aldrich Avenue what it called an "incubator building" and rented out space to four different startup companies. One of the businesses was Northeast Tool and Die - founded by three of the 40-some odd tool and die makers left without jobs when their old Great Britain-based employer, Clarostat, decided to close up shop in Norway. The concept of the incubator building was that as the four companies in it grew, they would move into larger quarters elsewhere, leaving room for another new business. The railroad corporation gave the town $25,000 toward construction costs. However, Northeast Tool & Die reportedly was the only one of the four original tenants to take off, and when Norway decided to leave economic development to others - "to get back to the job of plowing roads" - Northeast offered to buy the building outright. Norway used money from the building sale to finance the refurbishing of what would become the Fare Share Commons. It also loaned the tool and die company $75,000 to help in its expansion, with $25,000 of that coming from railroad corporation funds. Holt said that in examining canceled checks from Northeast Tool & Die, "it appears they never missed a payment." His solution was to have both the town and the railroad corporation forgive the tool and die makers and look to insurance companies for its lost money. During the time period Wyman is believed to have redirected Northeast Tool & Die money, two insurance companies - Keyes Insurance in Farmington, and the Maine Municipal Association - covered Norway. Both will reportedly have a hand in meeting the town's claims. Once Norway collects, it will reimburse the railroad corp. for its third of the debt, said Holt. "I don't think there's an issue as the evidence clearly shows the payments actually were received, but were not credited to the [proper] account, so it only appears on paper that they were in arrears" said Gray. "We'll just clean it off the books." "That's what we hoped would happen. I don't know what else we can do but make out the check. Our liability must end somewhere along the line," said Northeast Tool & Die president Arthur Lowe, on Tuesday. Lowe says, in retrospect, he now recognizes the undertone of conversations with Holt during the last couple of years, in which the town manager seemed to betray a belief that the tool and die shop may be having financial problems. Although the railroad directors will forgive any apparent debt from Northeast Toll & Die, Holt said they are free to stick out their hand once the insurance companies begin to pay out, or if Wyman is ordered to make restitution. NORWAY by Wm. Duke Harrington Thursday, July 27, 2006 front |
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