Woman charged with embezzlement settles with Deerfield condo association

GREENFIELD — A Superior Court judge has vacated the restitution order against a South Deerfield woman accused of embezzling money from a condominium association after she satisfied the settlement agreement.

Jeanne Elizabeth Grover, 48, agreed to pay $12,344 to the Stillwater Condominium Association as part of a compromise of a disputed claim. Grover faced a fiduciary embezzlement charge stemming from money that could not be accounted for from her time as the association’s elected treasurer. She will also be on probation for one year.

Her attorney, Mark H. Bluver, filed a motion to vacate the probation order, but it was denied by Judge Jane Mulqueen.

At a change of plea hearing for Grover in June, former Stillwater Condominium Association unit owner Kirsten Bergstrom read a victim impact statement describing the financial hardship the embezzlement caused the association. Bergstrom said the experience was a major factor in her decision to sell her unit.

Bergstrom said the embezzlement was discovered when the association needed to pay a large insurance premium and had no money to do so.

Grover eventually made the insurance payment with condominium association money she had moved into her personal account. In court, Bluver said there was no evidence that Grover planned to permanently deprive the condo association of its money.

Grover was arrested Sept. 21, 2017, following an investigation by the Deerfield Police Department.

According to an initial report filed by Deerfield Police Officer Adam Sokoloski in district court, a condominium association representative visited the police station after being contacted by Greenfield Savings Bank’s fraud and theft prevention division, which reported $18,173 had been transferred from the association’s account without approval over about five years.

Grover is also accused of stealing money from the First Church of Deerfield, and in court in June, she pleaded guilty to a charge of larceny under $1,200 stemming from that alleged offense.

At the time, Bluver told Judge Karen Goodwin that Grover, who once worked as an administrative assistant at the church, was still a member and “intends to make it right.” Bluver also said Grover “has learned a significant lesson by her conduct.”