Insurer to Cover Half of R.I. City’s $389K Loss Caused by Embezzlement

An insurance company has paid the city of Woonsocket, R.I., $200,000, which covers about half the money the city says it lost to embezzlement.

City Finance Director Thomas Bruce III tells the Woonsocket Call the city filed the claim with the Axis Insurance Co. after former Municipal Court Aide Rachel Arruda was accused of stealing $389,000 from traffic-fine collections between 2004 and 2010.

Arruda, who was arrested in October, is due back in court in July.

Bruce says the city won’t seek money from a separate $7,000 embezzlement case against former Treasury Clerk Michelle Giguere, because it was advised that simultaneous claims could lead to a huge jump in insurance premiums. Giguere is due back in court in June.

Bruce says the city has instituted policy changes designed to prevent future thefts.