GREENFIELD — The suspect alleged to have been involved in a fraudulent invoice scheme that ultimately drained $338,000 from the town of Orange’s coffers appeared remotely in Franklin County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Jennifer Grasmick, 51, of Nampa, Idaho, was taken into custody in her town by area authorities last May on suspicion of defrauding Orange out of $68,000. She was released from custody on $5,000 bail in June after pleading not guilty to a felony charge of larceny over $1,200, according to the defendant’s Superior Court docket.
Appearing on Zoom before Superior Court Justice Deepika Shukla Wednesday afternoon, Grasmick, her attorney Joseph Pacella and Assistant District Attorney for Nicholas Atallah agreed to convene for a pretrial conference on April 17.
The alleged fraud of $338,000 total occurred sometime in summer 2023 and was detected by Town Administrator Matthew Fortier in September of that year. Fortier reported in May 2024 that the fraud could have been worse than it was, as it was originally more than $800,000, but the bank was able to stop some of those payments.
Orange Police Chief James Sullivan, in February, described the suspect as a “money mule,” who served as just a “small cog” in a much bigger international scheme. He noted that he cannot speak for the FBI’s investigation, but they are looking at it on a “more global” scale. Sullivan also thanked Atallah for his ongoing work on the case.
The majority of the money, Sullivan added, is outside of the United States and a good chunk of it was “converted into bitcoin,” a decentralized, digital currency. Sullivan said it is unlikely that Orange will be able to recoup any of its losses.
Pacella could not be reached immediately for comment when contacted by phone Wednesday afternoon.