MILFORD - The mayor and the former village clerk of Milford were among several people charged with crimes late Tuesday when the Otsego County grand jury returned indictments.

Mayor Michael LaDuke and his wife, Debra - former village clerk - were indicted on charges of first-degree falsifying business records, petit larceny, first-degree tampering with public records and first-degree scheme to defraud.

Michael LaDuke was first elected Milford mayor in 1995 and remains in office. His wife resigned earlier this year.

The LaDukes are charged with using village funds to purchase between $8,000 and $10,000 worth of personal goods, Milford officials have said. They remain free on their own recognizance and will be arraigned at a later date. According to Sgt. Richard Devlin of the Otsego County Sheriff's Department, the investigation is continuing.

When indictments were presented to Otsego County Judge Michael Coccoma on Tuesday, new village Clerk Margo Russ and village Trustee Sabine Curry were in the courtroom.

"They were there because they're concerned and they want to see this situation cleared up," Devlin said.

In October, the two village trustees, Sabine Curry and Lori Henry, new village clerk-treasurer Margo Russ and village attorney Richard McVinney held a meeting to bring residents up-to-date on the status of the LaDukes and the village's financial condition.

McVinney explained that Michael LaDuke made purchases at various businesses and used open charge accounts the village had established or charged the purchases to the village which were later paid for with village funds.

When the trustees became suspicious and confronted LaDuke it started to become apparent what had been going on and they contacted McVinney and law enforcement officials who started and investigation. The LaDukes were subsequently arrested.

McVinney said theft like that is "not easy to find" and that is was "almost luck" that trustees Curry and Henry caught on.

The trustees told residents that they trusted LaDuke and his wife. "We had no reason to believe he was lying to us. "If you know Mike, you know he's a smooth talker," Henry said.

This was smooth enough Audit and Control (NYS Comptroller Office) did not pick up on it two times," McVinney added.

According to McVinney and the trustees, the LaDukes falsified the minutes of some board meetings after they were approved. The changes would reflect that certain purchases had been approved by the board when in fact the trustees had no knowledge of them. In other instances, checks were written on village accounts, but the purchases were never submitted for approval by the trustees.

"Vouchers were not approved, but checks were written. We saw what he wanted us to see," Henry said.

Officials believe $8,000 to $10,000 is missing because of purchases made by LaDuke, but much of the merchandise has been recovered, Henry said. The full extent of the purchases may never by known.

To tighten controls on spending, Russ and the trustees have instituted new purchasing procedures, closed all open charge accounts the village had with businesses and now require two signatures on each check.

"You would have to be really tricky to do what they did to us," McVinney said.

Russ, a certified public accountant, said that when she took over as clerk, essentially the books had not been done for two years.

Debra LaDuke resigned from her post in the spring, but her husband remains in office and village residents are not happy about it.

More than once they asked if there wasn't some way he could be removed from office, but McVinney said there is no way to compel him to step down. One person asked if it was possible he was in violation of his oath of office?

"Yes," McVinney replied, "but that's not enough."

If he was convicted of a felony he would have to leave office immediately, but it's possible his term, which is up for election in March, would be over before the case could make its way through court.

"He is mayor in title only," McVinney said. "We changed the lock on the village offices and Mike doesn't have a key." The looks were changed so more documents would not come up missing, he said.

Russ commented recently that she still makes out Michael LaDuke's paychecks, but that he had not come to the office to pick them up.

In addition to the purchases, officials said Michael LaDuke's involvement in the renovation of the Corner Store is still being investigated. The village was given the building following a fire which heavily damaged the structure. LaDuke told the trustees that a new roof had to be put on it and obtained a $75,000 loan for the project and arranged for the work to be done by Lincoln Construction of Oneonta without the normal bid process because it was an emergency.

The village paid Lincoln $67,5000 for work done on the building, but now believe, based on the opinions of someone who looked at the work, that only about $40,000 worth of work was completed. "We were led to believe that work that was going to be done was more than what was done," Henry said.

The village is currently trying to sell the Corner Store property and is soliciting bids from prospective purchasers.