Ex-Enon treasurer accused of theft in office

A former Enon clerk/treasurer wanted on a charge of stealing up to $39,450 was taken into custody at her house Thursday night.

Debra E. Maurer, 48, is charged with theft in office and tampering with evidence. Both are felonies and she will be arraigned in Clark County Municipal Court, according to the county sheriff’s office.

According to the sheriff’s office, Maurer between 2008 and 2012 engaged in a fraudulent scheme by direct deposit of village funds into her personal bank account and then altering Village of Enon records and bank statements to conceal the theft of government funds.

Her arrest, at her residence on South Harrison Street, occurred at about 7 p.m. on a warrant issued by the sheriff’s office.

In September, a search warrant was served at her home during which computers, papers and mail were among the items seized. The investigation included sheriff’s detectives and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations agents.

At that time, Maurer declined to comment on the investigation through her attorney Michael Miller. He told the Springfield News-Sun he was the family spokesman.

In the search warrant affidavit, the current village clerk-treasurer said she was unable to balance the books when she took over, that state taxes hadn’t been paid and that she found a discrepancy of more than $227,700 when reconciling the village’s books with bank statements.

State investigators analyzed the village computer. According to the affidavit, in their opinion, “a manipulation was done on this computer that enabled the user to create two separate set of records. It is the opinion of BCI&I agents that had this only been a mistake, it would have been caught as the records would not balance out.”