A longtime clerk-treasurer in Steuben County has been arrested for stealing more than $1.1 million in village funds over the course of at least 19 years, according to New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker and the New York State Police.

Ursula Stone, 55, who worked for the village of Addison from 1997 to last March, was charged with grand larceny, money laundering, corrupting the government, public corruption, attempted grand larceny attempted public corruption and 185 counts of falsifying business records, all felonies.

“For well over a decade, Ursula Stone took advantage of her position and the trust of Addison residents to systematically steal over a million dollars from her community,” DiNapoli said. “Thanks to the work of my office and our partnership with District Attorney Baker and the State Police, her crimes were uncovered, and she now faces the consequences of her actions. I thank our law enforcement partners for their commitment to fighting public corruption.”

According to DiNapoli, an audit of the village in 2022 found that Stone had been running the financial operations of the village with no oversight or accountability. She prepared payroll, maintained manual leave records, and processed health insurance buyouts and unused leave payments with no review or approval from the mayor or any other village official, he also said.

The comptroller's office found that checks from the Addison Central School District, payable to the village, were not deposited into the village’s accounts. A joint investigation found that Stone allegedly stole not only the school district’s checks, but also dozens of other checks payable to the village, which she converted to certified bank checks and cashed.

Additionally, investigators found Stone allegedly gave herself unauthorized pay raises, took time off without deducting it from her leave credits, and wrote herself checks for unauthorized health insurance buyouts from village funds. 

Stone resigned in March during the course of the investigation. Before submitting her resignation letter, she wrote herself a final check for $26,613, which was not authorized by the village board, DiNapoli said, though the bboard stopped payment on the check before she was able to cash it.

In total, investigators say she stole $1,171,362.

“This case represents the most complete, and to be frank shocking, breach of public trust I have encountered in 30 years as a Steuben County prosecutor,” Baker said. “The reality is that but for some real heads-up detection work by members of the State Comptroller’s staff it would still be on-going. Comptroller DiNapoli’s auditors picked up on some red flags village auditors missed, triggered an investigation and put in hundreds of hours to put this case together, with critical investigative assistance from the New York State Police Special Investigation Unit.”

Stone was arraigned in Steuben County Court and $20,000 in bail was set. She is due back in court on Jan. 24.