Church employee charged in $100,000 theft www.privateofficer.com

LOWELL, Mass. June 3 2010 —A Tyngsborough woman once responsible for counting the collections at a Roman Catholic church has been charged with skimming more than $100,000 from the donations.

Prosecutors say Donna Rood was indicted on charges of larceny by embezzlement over $250 and making false entries in corporate books.

Authorities say the 47-year-old Rood was responsible for counting collections at St. Mary Magdalen in Tyngsborough from 2003 until June 2009. Prosecutors allege she often kept some of the cash donations and deposited the money in her personal account.

Her alleged theft was discovered by a priest who noticed that Rood’s counts of the money was consistently lower than his own.

There was no answer at a listing for Donna Rood in Tyngsborough on Wednesday. No arraignment date has been scheduled.