ORANGE — Orange Police Chief James Sullivan confirmed Friday that the $68,000 allegedly stolen by Jennifer Grasmick, a 51-year-old woman from Nampa, Idaho, recently indicted for felony larceny, was part of a larger $338,000 invoice fraud scheme that targeted the town last year.
“There were separate invoices and different people involved in the fraud,” Sullivan said in an email to News Link Live. “The FBI is currently investigating the party or parties responsible for the remainder of the money we lost.”
Grasmick’s indictment, announced by Orange Police on May 30, stems from a felony larceny investigation involving one of the fraudulent invoices. Police said probable cause was found to charge Grasmick with defrauding the town, but they have not released details on how she is alleged to have carried out the scheme.
She was arrested in Idaho on a Massachusetts warrant and is expected to be arraigned in Greenfield Superior Court in early June.
The broader fraud, which occurred in mid-2023, involved a series of unauthorized payments made by the town to entities posing as legitimate vendors through fake or altered invoices. Officials said the total attempted fraud exceeded $800,000, but banks were able to stop some transactions, limiting the town’s actual losses to $338,000.
The case remains under active investigation by the FBI, Orange police, and the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office. Authorities have said the fraud may be linked to a larger money-mule operation, in which individuals — knowingly or unknowingly — are used to receive and transfer stolen funds, often via bogus invoices or fraudulent vendor accounts.
The $800,000 fraud prompted Orange officials to request a financial management review by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue during a July 2024 Selectboard meeting. In the aftermath, the town considered significant budget cuts, including potential library closures.
Sullivan noted that federal investigators have asked him not to disclose further details. “I am in a bit of a tough spot on releasing information,” he said. “The FBI asked me not to release anything.”
Still, he emphasized his responsibility to residents. “I work for the people of Orange, and I have a duty to them,” he said. “I feel they have a right to know that we are still working on this fraud case and are making headway.”
The Orange Police Department credited Assistant District Attorneys Nick Atallah and Steven Gagne of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the Grasmick investigation.
