Police: Milford woman stole $188K from Greenwich nonprofit

GREENWICH — In June 2018, a Greenwich equestrian leader who headed the local chapter of a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the horse industry and helping people involved in the equestrian field, had a question for the treasurer about an event they had recently put on: How much revenue had it brought in?

There were no answers and no responses from the treasurer, according to an arrest warrant application filed at state Superior Court in Stamford.

But a lengthy investigation by a forensic accounting firm later uncovered the alleged theft of a total of $188,000 from the horse-related nonprofit organization, and the former treasurer, Naomi Gauruder, 44, of Branca Court, Milford, is now facing a felony charge of first-degree larceny, according to court files.

Gauruder had been working as the treasurer for the nonprofit organization, which was headed by a Greenwich resident and horse farm co-owner, since 2008, and she had access to a debit card and checks, according to court files.

The nonprofit chapter president told police that after his suspicions were aroused in 2018, and he then carried out a “soft audit” that revealed about $66,000 had gone missing and was unaccounted for.

He later told investigators that “Gauruder had presented financial numbers in a way that disguised her misuse of chapter funds,” according to the affidavit. Funds has been used at gas stations, nail salons and for medical purposes involving Gauruder’s late husband, Gary Gauruder, a former Wilton police officer who died in 2020.

The chapter president contracted a New Haven accounting firm to conduct an investigation, and the firm provided evidence that $188,000 had been taken from 2011 to 2018, when Gauruder was terminated from her position as treasurer, according to court files.

The accounting firm found that money from the debit card and checking account was used for dining, travel, gas and insurance bills related to medical care, the court papers state. Money was also funneled to Gauruder’s own horse management business, the affidavit said. About $34,000 was embezzled in 2013, with $30,000 taken from the nonprofit’s account in 2016, court papers state.

After a Greenwich police detective met with the accounting firm earlier this year, an arrest warrant was issued, and Gauruder turned herself in at police headquarters Tuesday. After her arrest, bail was set at $250,000, and she was assigned a court date of May 11.

Messages left with Gauruder at her business and her attorney, Stephan Seeger, were not returned Thursday.