WINCHENDON — On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, Officer Tracy Flagg of the Winchendon Police Department reached out to Detective Caleb Similia asking him to investigate a report she received about unauthorized withdrawals from a deceased individual’s GFA Federal Credit Union bank account.
“Officer Flagg advised me a female party was seen on GFA surveillance making withdrawals from the ATM at their Winchendon Branch (185 Central St.),” Det. Similia said.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Det. Similia and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
Officer Flagg forwarded documents she received from a compliance and risk officer at GFA Federal Credit Union to Det. Similia.
The documents indicate that the female suspect, who was captured on security camera footage, withdrew $1,780 of Social Security funds belonging to Dennis Caouette, who passed away on December 28, 2023. The suspect withdrew funds from Caouette’s account on two occasions: January 3, 2024, and February 7, 2024.
“GFA established a timeline based off the withdrawals providing surveillance of the suspect and suspect’s vehicle,” Det. Similia said. “An older white female with grey hair is observed at the walk-in ATM on the days of 01/03/24 & 02/07/24. There were two photographs of the suspect’s vehicle 01/03/24 which appeared to be a white Nissan Frontier bearing Massachusetts registration [# redacted]. A registration query came back to a white ‘08 Nissan Frontier owned by a Paula Abare out of Ashburnham, MA. Paula’s RMV picture matched the female suspect on surveillance. I checked our in-house records and found that Paula has an address of 72 Spruce Street which was the same residence as the Dennis. Reviewing past reports, it appears as though Paula is dating William Caouette; Dennis’ brother [Paula and William are married].”
Paula M. Abare, 65, is a resident of 72 Spruce Street, Winchendon. Police say that in the past, Abare has lived in a “train caboose.”
Det. Similia called GFA Federal Credit Union, informed a compliance and risk officer that he had identified the suspect, and asked how they wished to proceed.
“I informed [the compliance officer] that as far as a potential larceny of Dennis’ debit card; Dennis is deceased so he could not be the victim. The victim of the withdrawals could potentially be the bank, however that would be determined pending an interview with Paula,” Det. Similia said. “Its possible Paula had permission to utilize Dennis’ debit card in the past as she would’ve known his pin number. It’s also possible William is Dennis’ Next of Kin and/or Executor of Estate and allowed Paula to withdraw from the account.”
Det. Similia also advised the compliance officer that absent a confession, it is unknown if Abare was aware of the fact that the money she withdrew was Social Security funds or just general money in the account.
The compliance officer said she would have a discussion with her team and call the officer back with how they’d like to proceed.
The compliance officer called Det. Similia back a short time later. She said they would be fine settling the matter with Abare if she returned the money to the bank. Det. Similia said he would contact Abare and if she didn’t agree to return the money, he would discuss other options with the bank.
Det. Similia went to Abare’s residential address at 72 Spruce Street, but no one answered the door. He then called Abare, who didn’t pick up the phone, so he left a voicemail requesting she return his call.
“I took a further look into Dennis’ provided bank statements which show that on January 3, 2024, an external deposit from the US Treasury/Social Security was made in the amount of $974.00,” Det. Similia said. “On this same day, there were three separate withdrawals from the ATM in the amounts of $90.00, $500.00, & $390.00 totaling $980.00, the same amount of the US Treasury/ Social Security deposit. On February 02, 2024 an external deposit from the US Treasury/Social Security was made in the amount of $800.00. On February 07, 2024 there were two separate withdrawals from the ATM in the amounts of $300.00 & $500.00 totaling $800.00, the same amount of the US Treasury/Social Security deposit. I previously mentioned that it’s unknown if Paula knew the money she withdrew was Social Security funds or just general money in the account. However, after reviewing the bank statements there is evidence Paula knew when the money was being deposited as she withdrew the Social Security funds shortly after its deposit in the full deposit amount.”
After several additional failed attempts at contacting Abare, Det. Similia made contact with her on May 1, 2024 at her 72 Spruce Street residence.
“I advised her I was present due to the funds she withdrew from GFA utilizing Dennis’ bank card,” Det. Similia said. “Paula stated Dennis and William had given her permission to withdraw the funds to pay bills. I asked her what her relation to Dennis was and she said he was her brother in-law. Dennis was reportedly in a nursing home and Paula and William weren’t sure when he’d be out, so she withdrew the funds to keep his bills current. I advised Paula that would’ve been okay had it not been Social Security funds subsequent Dennis’ death.”
When Abare told Det. Similia that the only money Dennis had was from Social Security, he informed her that GFA Federal Credit Union contacted his department because they had to pay approximately $1,800 back to Social Security.
“I told Paula that GFA was willing to work with her for repayment of the funds in lieu of criminal charges,” Det. Similia said.
He then provided the compliance officer’s contact information to Abare and told her to contact her right away so they could work something out.
“Paula appeared understanding and stated she would,” Det. Similia noted.
Det. Similia returned to the Winchendon Police Station where he called the compliance officer to let her know that he spoke with Abare. The detective told the compliance officer to contact him if they couldn’t come to an agreement.
On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Det. Similia received a call from the compliance officer who stated that about 10 minutes prior, Abare and her husband entered GFA’s Winchendon Branch, located at 185 Central Street, and “caused a big scene.”
“Paula reportedly told employees she would not be paying back the money,” Det. Similia said. “[The compliance officer] stated they wished to proceed with criminal charges. I advised [the compliance officer] I would request a summons be issued.”
Det. Similia requested a summons for Abare for the charge of larceny over $1,200.
Abare was arraigned in Winchendon District Court on June 11, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from April, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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