Norwich — A former Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce employee has been accused of embezzling nearly $55,000 from the agency.

Jennifer Chauvin, 43, of Hanover has been charged with first-degree larceny. According to an arrest warrant, she had worked for the chamber from Aug. 8, 2014, until she was fired on Oct. 19, 2018. During those four years, she is accused of embezzling $54,919.15 from the chamber.

The chamber had fired Chauvin for breach of trust and performance issues that were not related to the larceny, the warrant said.

Police say the new bookkeeper hired to replace Chauvin discovered that Chauvin had used a Visa credit card, issued to the chamber from Eastern Savings Bank, for her own personal expenses. Two chamber board members, both certified public accountants, confirmed the findings and determined 1,264 transactions were not for official chamber business, according to the warrant. The first personal charge was for a $685.15 Verizon Wireless bill on Sept. 23, 2014, and the last two were for $19.93 on a web-based people search service on Oct. 22, 2018.

The chamber turned over copies of its ledgers and statements for the credit card to Norwich police for the investigation. Detective Steven Schmidt visited several of the local businesses at which the chamber card was used but none had video footage or a customer name listed for the transactions. However, Asset Protection for Walmart in Lisbon was able to provide printed copies of several of the receipts for purchases made with the card. They all appeared to be for groceries, clothing, household items and other items for personal use, the warrant said.

Schmidt requested an interview with Chauvin, who voluntarily went to the Norwich Police Department on Aug. 7, 2019. During the recorded exchange, Chauvin admitted to the thefts, according to the warrant.

She also provided a signed, sworn statement saying that the chamber hired her as operations coordinator — with duties including bookkeeping, accounting, other secretarial duties and organizing events — and she was issued the Visa card. In the statement, she said she understood that the card was not to be used for personal expenses but she was struggling financially when she was hired. She said in 2018, she used the card for almost all of her family’s everyday expenses, the warrant said. She was able to hide her activities because her responsibilities included paying the chamber’s bills through its checking account with Eastern Savings Bank. Police said she acknowledged and took full responsibility for the $54,919.15 she is charged with embezzling.

“Everyone at the Chamber was shocked last year at the discovery of the sophisticated embezzlement scheme perpetrated by our former employee, whom we treated as part of our growing family,” Nancy Cowser, chair of the chamber board, said in a statement Saturday. “We have put additional safeguards in our systems to prevent this type of theft from being possible in the future.”

“Fortunately, the Chamber remains financially strong and continues to thrive as we expand the services to the more than 500 businesses that we serve,” she added.

Chauvin was arrested Friday morning. She is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 7 and her bond was set at $30,000.