Cops: Secretary took a quarter-million $

2/2/2023

A Schoharie woman is charged with stealing more than a quarter million dollars over eight years from the Ross Law Offices, where she’d worked at as a secretary.
Amber M. Wood, 39, was arrested Friday after she turned herself over to State Police for processing.
She was arraigned in Cobleskill Town Court and transported to the Schenectady County Correctional Facility for arraignment on the charges there.
The arrest followed an investigation begun by State Police on October 6, 2022 after Troopers at the Princetown Bureau of Criminal Investigation received a complaint of funds missing from a guardianship estate assigned to Daniel S. Ross at Ross Law Offices in Middleburgh.
According to State Police, during the course of the investigation, the BCI determined that Ms. Wood worked as a secretary for the law firm.
The investigation further determined that between November 2013 and June 2021, Ms. Wood had stolen over $265,000 from the guardianship account and had deposited checks from that account into her personal bank account.
Troopers said it was also discovered that during the same timeframe Ms. Wood had altered business records related to the guardianship bank account, which were subsequently filed with the Schoharie County Surrogate’s Court containing false information.
Ms. Wood is facing multiple charges including:
• One count of grand larceny, second degree.
• Eight counts of grand larceny, third degree.
• Five counts of forgery, second degree.
• Five counts of falsifying business records, first degree.
• One count of grand larceny, fourth degree.