Woman indicted in embezzlement of Sanford doc; alleged to have pilfered $65G

Amber Trainer (York County Jail photo)

ALFRED, Maine - A Somersworth woman arrested for allegedly embezzling as much as $65,000 from a Sanford doctor has been indicted by a York County grand jury.

Amber Trainor, 29, of 107 Franklin St., who formerly worked for Dr. Malathy Sundaram at her former Sanford practice, has been formerly charged with theft in the case. She was arrested on Jan. 30 by Sanford Police, and is currently out on $2,000 cash bail.

According to an affidavit obtained by The Rochester Voice, Trainor used the funds to pay for a Disney Cruise, energy bills, airline tickets to Florida, a tattoo and a health coach as well as many other purchases over an eight-month period in 2018.

Dr. Malathy Sundaram, the alleged victim in the case, continues her fight to restore her license and establish a suboxone clinic and family medicine practice in Rochester, N.H. Above, some of the filings in her fight with the Maine and N.H. Boards of Medicine. (Rochester Voice file photo)

The criminal complaint reflects a felony theft of more than $10,000 but the aggregate sum of money allegedly stolen from Sundaram was sbout $65,000, according to the affidavit written by Sanford Police Officer Chad Allen.

Most of the funds allegedly stolen by Trainor were the result of a Discover card taken out in Sundaram's name that listed Trainor as a qualified user.

Payments to the Discover card were made through Sundaram's Sanford Institution of Saving account, which Trainor had access to as office manager, the affidavit stated.

The affidavit also notes that Sundaram gave Trainor a check for $2,000 on Jan. 12, 2018, to help her with a heating issue at her home, but within the next five days an additional two checks in the amount of $2,000 and $4,500 were cashed that Sundaram didn't authorize.

The warrant for her arrest states that the alleged theft of funds occurred between Feb. 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2018 during a time frame when Sundaram's husband who normally did the books had gone back to India.

In totaling up the possible amount of funds allegedly stolen Allen found that about $15,000 was the result of Discover card purchases. The affidavit also states payment made to Discover from Sundaram's SIS account totaled some $43,000 and Discover payments from another of Sundaram's banks, Northeast Credit Union, totaled about $7,400. The final Discover card statement showed a balance of around $11,800.

The welcome letter from the Discover card in question was sent to Sundaram's billing email and forwarded to Trainor's personal Gmail account, the affidavit states. It also notes that Sundaram's AmericanExpress/Sky Miles credit card was used to purchase tickets to Florida, which coincides with the date of Disney cruise.

The Sundarams have reported nearly $70,000 missing.

According to the affidavit during this time Sundaram put Trainor in full charge of the office with full access to her financials.

Much of the financial evidence is being analyzed with the help of the New England State Police Information Network.

The police affidavit was signed on Jan. 23.

Trainor is currently out on $2,000 cash bail pending her next court appearance at York County Superior Court in May.

If Trainor is convicted she faces as much as 10 years in state prison followed by three years of probation as well as a $20,000 in fines.

Sundaram said she fired Trainor in October 2018, not because she believed she was stealing from her, but because she failed to pass on information from the licensure board as she sought to continue in compliance from a 2017 ruling. She is hoping to take over the late Dr. Terry Bennett's Rochester suboxone and family medicine practice.