Clerk allegedly pawned town’s antiques
Methuen worker tried to retire after being accused
A longtime city employee accused of stealing and pawning valuable historical artifacts from Methuen’s municipal vault tried to file for retirement just hours after she was confronted with evidence of the crime, officials said.
Judith K. Hajjar, 59, who spent more than 20 years working in the city clerk’s office and had been previously tasked with cleaning the vault, is facing seven counts of larceny over $250 after allegedly stealing several antique silver plates worth tens of thousands of dollars and selling them to a pawn shop in Lowell for $700, Methuen police Chief Joseph Solomon and Mayor Stephen N. Zanni announced yesterday. The plates, they said, were later sold to a refinery where they were melted down for scrap.
“A piece of our city’s history has been lost forever, and it is a shame that one person’s greed has cost us so dearly,” Zanni said last night. “I am proud that our police department conducted a thorough investigation, and we will use whatever channels we have available to recoup the city’s financial loss. However, nothing can replace the historic value of these artifacts.”
The investigation into the missing plates — purchased by the city many years ago from the Searles family estate — was launched Aug. 28, when officials noticed they were missing after the city’s historical society requested them for display, Zanni said. The investigation, headed up by Methuen police Capt. Kristopher McCarthy, led cops to Hajjar, the city’s assistant principal clerk, who Zanni said tried to filed for retirement within hours of being contacted about the plates.
“It’s tough in one respect that you have an employee who for over 20 years did nothing wrong, and then in February she did this,” Zanni said, adding, “I feel bad, yes, that they’re gone, but I also feel bad that somebody went through the process of selling them to a pawn shop.”
Although the investigation into the alleged theft is ongoing, Zanni said Hajjar has been fired.
The city will use both the civil and criminal court system in an effort to recoup the lost monetary value of the plates, Zanni said, which may include going after Hajjar’s pension.