Area woman facing fraud, theft charges

MERRIMACK, Jan 27, 2009 (The Telegraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IONA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A Merrimack woman and co-owner of a local consignment shop is facing numerous felony theft and fraud charges in two states.

Meredith Moore-Flores, 31, of 21 Scott Drive, is scheduled for a hearing in Waltham (Mass.) District Court today because she's been accused of scamming $78,000 from IONA Technologies, a software company.

Moore-Flores was also charged in December by the Londonderry Police Department with cheating InSight Technology Inc. out of about $62,000.

She is next scheduled to appear in court on those charges Feb. 6.

Moore-Flores, co-owner of Always New 2 You -- in the former Shaw's Plaza on Daniel Webster Highway -- had worked at both companies as an executive assistant before opening the consignment shop in December.

Waltham police pressed the first charges against Moore-Flores in September, according to a Waltham District Court employee.

The Waltham Police Department declined comment on the case because it is an open investigation, but according to a Londonderry Police Department report, Moore-Flores set up fake expense reports and took money from them.

She is also accused of setting up two businesses and charging IONA for services she said were provided by those entities, the report said. At last, Moore-Flores is accused of using IONA credit cards -- paid for by the company -- for her personal use.

Moore-Flores was arraigned in October on one count of larceny, four counts of credit card fraud, two counts of forgery and one count of identity fraud.

Closer to home, Moore-Flores has been charged with five felony counts of theft by deception stemming from alleged activity with Insight Technology, a weapons manufacturer in Londonderry.

Moore-Flores produced fake expense reports for items that weren't actually ordered by Insight employees, according Londonderry police. She would use photocopied signatures of a supervisor to make orders look legitimate, submit reports and then receive reimbursement checks for expenses she didn't incur.

Moore-Flores allegedly did this three times between October and November, receiving about $20,000 in return, police said.

In addition, Moore-Flores is accused of falsely enrolling in Bentley University in order to receive tuition reimbursement from Insight. She allegedly created fake grade reports from the school and handed them to Insight, receiving more than $42,000 in reimbursement money for the fall semester.

In September, the company reported the alleged activity to police, who began investigating and finally interviewed Moore-Flores in December.

The woman told police she had plans to pay Insight back, that she didn't think she was a criminal and that she was having a hard time making ends meet, according to the police report. Moore-Flores told Sgt. Michael McCutcheon several times that she just "made a mistake."

In that interview, McCutcheon said Moore-Flores admitted to the false expense reports -- with one monetary discrepancy -- and the fake transcripts, police said.

She was arrested Dec. 10 and released on $25,000 personal recognizance.

Next month's Derry District Court appearance will be a probable cause hearing.

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