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Former Village of Corfu court clerk charged with grand larceny

By Howard B. Owens

The former court clerk for the Village of Corfu has been indicted on two counts of grand larceny stemming from an investigation by State Police into missing court funds that originally were uncovered by a state comptroller's audit.

In all, Brandi Watts was charged with 53 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, five counts of tampering with public records along with the two grand larceny, 3rd, counts and a count of grand larceny, 4th.

Her father, former village justice Robert Alexander was arraigned today in Genesee County Court on three misdemeanor counts of coercion (two counts) and official misconduct.

Watts was jailed on $10,000 bail and Alexander was released on his own recognizance.

The prosecution of the case is being handled by Donald O'Geen, district attorney for Wyoming County, to help avoid any potential conflicts of interest with the Genesee County District Attorney's Office. Attorneys from the DA's office would have prosecuted cases in Alexander's Corfu courtroom and still do prosecute cases in the Town of Pembroke courtroom.

O'Geen said his office has also overseen a criminal investigation involving Corfu mayor Ralph Peterson, but there has been insufficient evidence uncovered thus far to charge him with any crime. There have been allegations raised in Corfu that Peterson has tried interfering with the investigation into Watts and Alexander. O'Geen said the investigation remains open, but he indicated he doesn't expect to file charges based on available evidence.

MORE T/K

David Horning

I was wondering when this would come about. I only hope the village can recover and put this behind them. This gives a black eye to all the honest folks serving the public. We need to clean up NYS now.

Jul 17, 2013, 4:36pm Permalink
cj sruger

Does this mean my speeding ticket trial years back before alexander can be overturned, he obviously Found me guilty to pocket the 280$ fine

Jul 17, 2013, 4:45pm Permalink
Doug Yeomans

David, her facebook profile page is wide open and you can see her picture there. You can also see a picture of Robert Alexander standing behind her in one of the photos.

(If a facebook profile, or any part of it is open to the public, the world can see it.)

Jul 18, 2013, 8:40am Permalink
Bob Heininger

If all or some of those charges manage to stick (innocent until proven guilty), mainly the grand larceny's, I'm curious what the missing roughly $10K bought that made it worth the risk of getting caught.

Jul 18, 2013, 9:09am Permalink
Mark Brudz

Bob, most embezzlement crimes begin as borrowing the money from the till and then it slips out of control, I don't know if that is the case here, but I would be willing to bet that it was how it started. That said, NO AMOUNT is worth the risk, whether it be $100 or $1 Million.

Embezzlement is probably the most likely crime that you will eventually be caught at, there is always a record and eventually there is always an audit and no matter how adept one gets at 'Fudging The Books' sooner or later the discrepancy will be detected.

It is not a RISK of getting caught when one embezzles, it is an eventual CERTAINTY.

Jul 18, 2013, 10:18am Permalink
Al Graham

A few things to remember, It is believed that much more money is missing but no paper trail to prove it because the records are missing. what they got charged with is just a drop in the bucket of the things they did. Remember too that the mayor is still under investigation. Look back in past articals , every person that the mayor went after has somethingto do with this case. The two clerks the former P.D. Admin The new court clerk and myself.

Jul 18, 2013, 11:47am Permalink

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