TOPSHAM — A Poland man is charged with stealing more than $200,000 in money and equipment from a Topsham construction equipment supplier, according to police.

Georges Gendron, 65, faces felony charges for the crimes that occurred while he worked as controller for Coastal Metal Fabrication, known as DownEaster Manufacturing.

He was indicted on two counts of Class B theft, a count of Class B aggravated forgery, and Class C counts of forgery, theft, and misdemeanor misuse of entrusted property and falsifying private records.

Topsham police executed a search warrant at Gendron’s Poland home on June 15. Investigators seized four laptops, several thumb drives and legal documents from the home.

The charges against Gendron allege that he stole at least $10,000, and a DownEaster dump trailer valued at more than $1,000. He also is charged with forging a sales invoice worth more than $1,000 and falsifying records. He allegedly committed the crimes over a three-year span starting in 2014.

The company’s current controller, Mark Berger, told investigators he found evidence of the crimes in 2018 while examining company accounting records, according to court records.

Berger told police a large portion of the theft was made through unauthorized checks. He also discovered evidence that a legitimate sales invoice had been altered and applied to the sale of Gendron’s trailer.

The affidavit also states Gendron had access to the company’s online banking and could log in remotely. He allegedly did not make appropriate insurance deductions from his paychecks, totaling $24,153, according to Berger’s calculation.

Berger’s findings show the unauthorized checks allegedly began in April 2015, and continued until November 2017, when Gendron left the company. The document states Berger believes the checks were spread out over many expense accounts to minimize the financial impact, but totaled more than $200,000.

The Bangor Daily News reported that Gendron was charged on June 21, and that he was released on $50,000 unsecured bail that day.

Gendron was forced to surrender his passport as a condition of bail. His attorney, Leonard I. Sharon, has filed a motion to have the passport returned so Gendron can visit his sick mother in Quebec. Sagadahoc County Assistant District Attorney A.J. Chalifour is prosecuting the case and has objected to that motion.

Gendron is scheduled to be arraigned in West Bath District Court on Sept. 11. Sharon did not return a phone call for comment Tuesday.

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