A former Waterbury city employee is facing charges for misappropriating funds following a previous arrest alleging she illegally obtained the credit card information of other employees to make a variety of purchases, police said.
Waterbury investigators received two separate complaints — on Dec. 28, 2023, and Jan. 16 of this year — regarding an employee with the City of Waterbury Corporation Counsel office who allegedly obtained credit card information from two other employees in the Corporation Counsel office and illegally used their information to make 20 separate transactions to purchase a variety of items, according to the Waterbury Police Department.
The purchases allegedly occurred at various locations between Dec. 7 and Dec. 20, 2023, police said.
After an investigation, the employee was identified as 65-year-old Phyllis Labarge of Middletown, according to police
On Jan. 4, Labarge resigned as an employee with the City of Waterbury where she had worked since 2013, police said. On Feb. 1, Lebarge was arrested on two warrants for the incidents and was charged with fourth-degree larceny, sixth-degree larceny, two counts of payment card theft and two counts of illegal use of a payment card.
As Waterbury detectives continued their investigation, additional incidents involving illegal acts were reportedly found to have been committed by Labarge during her time as a city employee, according to police. Investigators allege that Labarge misappropriated funds between 2019 and 2023, which totaled $15,579.67, police said.
According to police, Labarge allegedly stole cash and money-order payments from individuals making court-ordered restitution for property damage to the city while working in the Corporation Counsel office. In some instances, police allege that she deleted computer files.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Labarge and she was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with first-degree larceny, first-degree forgery and first-degree computer crimes. She was released on a $20,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 8, police said.
