An upstate village clerk accused of swiping more than $1 million — about the same amount as her town’s entire annual budget — will give up her pension in a historic New York forfeiture case.
Disgraced former Addison employee Ursula Stone, 55, allegedly stole $1,171,362 in village funds over at least 19 years — and is now the first politician to fork over her pension under New York’s anti-corruption law, state and county officials announced late last week.
“This case represents the most complete, and to be frank – shocking, breach of public trust I have encountered in 30 years as a Steuben County prosecutor,” Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker said in a statement.
“The reality is that but for some real heads-up detection work by members of the State Comptroller’s staff it would still be ongoing.”
Stone appeared in Steuben County Court on Thursday and agreed to forfeit her pension of $1,920 a month, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said it marked New York’s first pension forfeiture under anti-corruption measures passed as part of an ethics-reform package in 2011 and expanded in 2017.
Though the law had never been wielded in court before, Stone’s case was a perfect fit because her alleged crimes “impacted that village on a day-to-day basis,” Baker said, according to the outlet.
A 2022 audit of the village by DiNapoli’s office found that Stone had been overseeing the village’s finances with no oversight or accountability, officials said.
She prepared payroll, maintained manual leave records and processed health insurance buyouts as well as unused leave payments – all without approval from the mayor or other village officials.
Stone allegedly used her access to the books for her own benefit: giving herself raises, taking time off without deducting it from her leave credits and cutting checks that granted herself unauthorized health insurance buyouts from village funds, authorities said.
She is also accused of stealing the local school district’s checks – as well as dozens of other checks payable to the village – before converting them to bank checks and cashing them, authorities said.
The investigation – conducted by DiNapoli’s office, the New York State Police and the Steuben County District Attorney’s Office – also found that Stone had also been cashing out unused vacation time since 2004, according to authorities.
Only retirees or resigned employees are allowed to take such action, officials said.
As authorities gradually uncovered her scheme, Stone resigned in March 2023 – but not before allegedly writing herself one last unauthorized check for $26,613.
The board stopped payment on the check before Stone could cash it.
“For well over a decade, Ursula Stone took advantage of her position and the trust of Addison residents to systematically steal over a million dollars from her community,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Thanks to the work of my office and our partnership with District Attorney Baker and the State Police, her crimes were uncovered, and she now faces the consequences of her actions.”
While Stone owned up to stealing more than $100,000, she contested prosecutors’ calculation of more than $1 million, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
Stone was ordered held on $20,000 bail during her arraignment before Judge Chauncey Watches.
She is due back in court Jan. 24.
