A Former Museum Director Stole $31,000—and Faked a Burglary—All to Buy Wood Pellets and Tickets to Six Flags, a New Lawsuit Alleges

The board of
the Susan B.
Anthony Birthplace
Museum in Adams,
Massachusetts, has accused its former director of
stealing $31,000 from
the small nonprofit organization, which maintains the childhood
home of the suffragist.

Colleen Janz, who was director
from 2012 until she was fired in 2018, embezzled the funds over the
course of three years, according to charges filed by museum
representatives. The story
was first reported by the Berkshire Eagle. 

Janz funneled money and falsified documents to cover her tracks
for three years, according to court documents. In that span,
plaintiffs allege that she made 340 unauthorized transactions,
including purchases of jewelry, wood pellets, satellite TV service,
car insurance, and tickets to cruise lines and Six
Flags.

Carol Crossed, the president of
the museum’s board of directors, told the Berkshire Eagle that the transactions
only became apparent after a vendor contacted the museum about a
missing payment. Janz allegedly told him that $8,000 had been
stolen from the museum and that his payment would be
delayed.

“We were devastated,” Crossed told the Berkshire Eagle.
“We trusted her. She was a friend. We gave her bonuses and personal
gifts.”

Janz was arraigned earlier this
month in a Northern Berkshire District Court, where she pleaded not
guilty to a charge of larceny. If convicted, she could face two to
five years in prison.

After the incident, the board
hired two accounting
firms to look over the museum’s books. They uncovered a number of
dubious records and found that roughly $31,000 was
missing “in suspicious transactions neither authorized
by the board, nor related to legitimate expenses on behalf of the
museum,” according to court paperwork.

The museum’s annual operating budget is roughly $125,000.

A pretrial hearing is set for
December in Berkshire County. The museum declined artnet News’s
request for comment.

The post A Former Museum Director Stole $31,000—and Faked a
Burglary—All to Buy Wood Pellets and Tickets to Six Flags, a New
Lawsuit Alleges appeared first on artnet News.