TUNBRIDGE — A former longtime Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department bookkeeper entered not guilty pleas Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court to embezzlement and grand larceny charges.
Jacqueline Higgins, 63, of Vershire, is accused of embezzling nearly $200,000 from the fire department over roughly 10 years. She worked as bookkeeper since 1994 and allegedly claimed to have “repaid every penny.”
Deputy State Attorney David Newland filed charges Jan. 6: one count of embezzlement of more than $100 between January 2014 and April 2025, and one count of grand larceny in excess of $900 from January through December 2024.
Each count carries up to 10 years in prison and fines of $10,000 or $5,000, respectively.
At her arraignment Wednesday at the Orange County Courthouse, Judge Timothy Tomasi set release conditions including mandatory court appearances, notification of any address or phone changes, and barring her from any financial fiduciary position, whether paid or volunteer.
According to her arrest affidavit filed by Vermont State Police Trooper Mengbei Wang, Higgins had been conducting part-time bookkeeping work since 1994. She had no formal contract but received annual compensation through oral agreements, ranging from $1,000 initially to $2,000 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Vermont State Police were contacted by the fire department in August 2025 about “significant discrepancies in its financial record following the resignation of their longtime serving bookkeeper,” the affidavit states.
Higgins resigned Feb. 17, 2025, the same month she learned the five-member board of the nonprofit volunteer fire department had agreed to bring in professional auditors, “as an official audit had not been conducted in nearly three decades.”
She informed the board her last day would be March 31 and that “a sizable deposit” would be made to the department’s bank account, though the board had no knowledge of the source.
That same month, Higgins reported the Bar Harbor savings account balance was $199,490.47. Upon visiting the bank, board president Robert Dunkle and treasurer John Fragnella discovered the actual balance was “slightly over $300.”
Higgins submitted financial records in April after delays caused by her unresponsiveness to emails and excuses of illness.
After examining documents from July 2018 to April 2025, forensic account examiner Priscilla Carpenter found evidence of nearly $50,000 in losses and “numerous unexplained disbursements, account transfers and inconsistencies.”
Carpenter also discovered that on April 21, when Higgins delivered the financial records, a $196,764.31 deposit was made to the Bar Harbor account. It consisted of $200 cash and two Mascoma Bank cashier’s checks: $1,564.31 from Jacqueline M. Higgins and $195,000 from Gavin Higgins, 63, her husband.
Higgins claimed the money was from a certificate of deposit. According to investigators, the board was unaware of the CD account.
Further investigation revealed losses totaling $193,813.22 from June 2014 through April 2025, in categories including “checks to self,” “Amazon/Kindle charges,” deposits, transfers and fundraising event discrepancies.
Higgins told investigators she confessed to her husband in March or early April 2025 “about secretly taking money” from the fire department. He gave her $200,000 to repay the department, the affidavit states.
Higgins allegedly told investigators she kept no records but estimated “she had repaid every penny.” She insisted her husband had nothing to do with the alleged thefts.
“(Higgins) revealed that she had began taking money from the TVFD about 10 years ago, initially due to credit card debts her husband was unaware of,” the affidavit says. “She also admitted to having had a serious drinking problem in the past and was arrested for DUI in 2019, after which she quit drinking.”
The Valley News previously reported in November 2019 that Higgins pleaded guilty in that case and was ordered to pay a $500 fine and additional court fees.
On Jan. 13, Tomasi found probable cause in Higgins’ alleged embezzlement.
“Investigation has revealed that the total financial loss to the TVFD is estimated $193,813.22 from the 11 years of bank records reviewed,” the affidavit states.
However, “the true extent of her embezzlement remains obscured due to missing … information and the limited years for which bank records were retained.”
“Given that (Higgins and her husband Gavin) transferred a substantial sum back ($196,764.31) to the TVFD’s Mascoma bank account immediately following her resignation, it is evident that (Higgins) was aware of her misconduct during her tenure as the bookkeeper.”
The Valley News reached out to the Tunbridge fire department to confirm whether they had been repaid. In an email response, Fire Chief Simon Bradford said: “Det. Wang’s affidavit speaks for itself.”