The National Veterans Services Fund of Darien and Darien VFW Post 6933 issued a statement Friday afternoon about the sentencing of Cynthia Tanner, who had pleaded guilty to embezzling charges after she stole $800,000 in veterans organization money.
Here’s the statement:
Cynthia Tanner, formerly of Stanton Road in Darien.
Representatives of the National Veterans Services Fund, Inc., a Darien-based organization that assists veterans and helps coordinate support services for them, together with members of the Darien VFW Post 6933, attended the sentencing of Cynthia Tanner, the former bookkeeper for each organization, who was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut today.
Tanner had pleaded guilty last Dec. 15 to fraud and tax evasion offenses resulting from her embezzlement of approximately $800,000 from NVSF alone.
Phil Kraft, Executive Director of NVSF, stated to the Court that while justice had been served with Ms. Tanner’s conviction and sentencing, the damage done to these organizations’ abilities to assist needy veterans was catastrophic and could never be completely rectified.
“Tanner’s abuse of her position of responsibilities for her personal gain has seriously affected the lives of thousands of veterans whom we would otherwise have been able to assist” said Kraft.
NVSF also emphasized that in moving forward since Tanner’s arrest and conviction, it is steadily increasing its effectiveness and fundraising efforts as the organization recovers from the losses incurred by the embezzlement.
“While we are glad to put this sad episode in the past, our Board is more determined than ever to continue our mission into the future . We are especially grateful to the Darien Police Department and its Detective Bureau as it immediately and effectively went into action when we brought our initial suspicions to them.”
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