More on that maple syrup scam

Two Springfield residents were charged earlier this week with being part of what authorities say is a ring in the Twin States that stole and resold maple syrup on both sides of the Connecticut River to raise thousands of dollars to, in part, buy drugs.

http://www.vnews.com/08042011/7958166.htm

Published 8/4/2011

Vermont Couple Charged with Tapping Syrup Makers for Cash

By Mark Davis
Valley News Staff Writer

Newport -- People have resorted to all manner of theft. Some fence stolen valuables. Others stick up victims on the street or embezzle from employers.

But this may be the first alleged instance to involve maple syrup.

Two Springfield, Vt., residents were charged earlier this week with being part of what authorities say is a ring in the Twin States that stole and resold maple syrup on both sides of the Connecticut River to raise thousands of dollars to, in part, buy drugs.

Jason Raymond and his wife Kristi Raymond, 31, each face a felony charge of forgery for allegedly defrauding Bascom Maple Farms in Acworth, N.H., of more than $13,000.

The Raymonds are scheduled to appear in Newport District Court later this month.

Indeed, maple syrup, as anyone who has shelled out for bottles of it at roadside country store can attest, is to Vermont as oil is to Texas: A valuable state export. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup, which can run upwards of $60 per gallon, depending on grade, according to one retailer's website.

Court documents reference several other people involved in the alleged operation with the Raymonds, and New Hampshire State Police said more arrests are possible.

Another man, Lucas A. Smith, 24, of Chester, Vt., pleaded not guilty last month in Windsor Superior Court to grand larceny for his alleged role in the ring: Police say Smith stole syrup from a Perkinsville sugar house, and resold some of it to Bascom Maple Farms along with Raymond.

More than a dozen people may be involved in an investigation that began in the spring of 2010.

Affidavits filed by New Hampshire State Police Trooper Eric Berube and Weathersfield Police Chief Richard Brown said that in the spring of 2010, employees at Bascom Maple Farms grew suspicions after several people had visited their offices to sell five gallon drums of syrup. (Bascom Maple Farms, one of the largest operations in the state, buys and sells bulk syrup.)

Additionally, the employees said, the individuals produced slips redeemable for cash -- purportedly written by Bascom employees after they accepted a syrup delivery -- that were in unfamiliar handwriting.

When an employee confronted one man trying to cash a questionable slip for several hundred dollars, he ran from the store, the affidavit said.

Police, using the license plate of the car that sped away, and reviewing records at Bascom Maple Farms, soon unraveled the alleged scheme.

One individual, Jeffrey Winter, who was previously arrested, told police that he was addicted to the opiate narcotic oxycontin, which was allegedly sold to him by Jason Raymond, the affidavit related. To fund his habit, Winter told police that he stole maple sugar from the Hedgehog Hill Farm, in Belmont, Vt., where he worked, and sold it to Bascom Maple Farms.

Once Jason Raymond learned of that, he wanted in, Winter told police. But Jason Raymond introduced a wrinkle: Instead of selling sap to Bascom Maple Farms, they would walk into the farm's office, distract employees, steal blank sales slips, forge the slips and then cash them for money.

Cash in hand, Winter told police he gave Raymond half of the proceeds, and spent his half of the money buying oxycontin from Jason Raymond.

Kristi Raymond sometimes participated in the runs to Bascom Maple Farms, and urged her husband to keep it up, another man told police.

While police investigated the allegations at Bascom Maple Farms, Tom Sheenan, a Perkinsville, Vt. man who had a sugaring operation, called Bascom Maple Farms and said he believed that Smith, a seasonal worker, had stolen syrup from him.

Bascom Maple Farms had records of purchasing large quantities of syrup from Smith in recent months.

In a police interview, Smith said that he had stolen two 5 gallon buckets and two 15 gallon buckets from Sheenan and sold it to Bascom Maple Farms.

Police told Smith that more than 100 gallons had gone missing: Smith suggested that other people were responsible, but offered no conclusive proof.

Smith said he stole the syrup because he was taking drugs.

Kristi Raymond posted $10,000 bail, according to court records, and could not be reached for comment. Jason Raymond is held in the Sullivan County jail on $25,000 bail.

Smith was released without bail and could not be reached for comment.