Ex-chatham official accused of thefts

Health insurance waivers at issue

The village’s former clerk-treasurer was arrested as part of an investigation by state Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli, State Police and the Columbia County district attorney, authorities said.

Barbara Henry, 59, of Chatham, is accused of unlawfully waiving her health insurance premiums, costing the town more than $4,000, Dinapoli’s office said Wednesday.

Henry was responsible for paying 50 percent of her health insurance costs while the village was responsible for the other 50 percent, Dinapoli’s office explained in a news release. An investigation found that from April 2017 to August 2018, Henry used her position to unlawfully waive her own premiums, causing the village to pay more than $4,182 to fund Henry’s insurance, his office said.

“Henry was entrusted to protect the village’s funds, instead she allegedly used that position for her personal benefit,” Dinapoli said in a statement. “This behavior is unacceptable and now Henry is being held accountable for her actions.”

Henry also allegedly stole over $8,000 from Cadmus Lifesharing Association, a Massachusetts nonprofit that cares for people with disabilities, and where Henry held a second job as the director of the organization, between October 2014 and last December, Dinapoli’s office and the district attorney’s office said. She allegedly committed both crimes in Chatham, prosecutors said.

Henry is charged with tampering with public records and two grand larceny counts, felonies, and misdemeanor official misconduct. Henry

worked for the village from late 2012 until she resigned in August 2018. She was released and is due back in court April 28.

District Attorney Paul Czajka said it is the same investigation that resulted in the conviction of

former Chatham village police chief Peter Volkmann.

Volkmann pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing $74,222 from the retirement system. Volkmann also pleaded guilty to official misconduct for filing false claims for $18,607 in mileage and expense reimbursement from Chatham.