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Stacy Lore used correction tape, black markers and copy machines to pull off the scam that netted her almost half a million dollars. Lore, accused of fraudulently presenting herself as a certified autism therapist, collected more than $150,000 from the Norwalk Public Schools.
In the 60-page arrest warrant that was released to the public on Monday, Det. David Orr of the Norwalk Police Department lists as evidence phony university diplomas that Lore fabricated and passed off as her own. Orr describes forgeries that include drips of correction fluid and Lore's name entered in different colored inks than used on the originals.
Search warrants of Lore's records reveal that she collected $444,720 between 2005 and 2008, all of which went into her personal bank account. She had 25 different clients including school districts and private families. In Norwalk, Lore worked with pre-school children who had been diagnosed with autism.
Simple greed appears to have motivated her scam. In a letter that Lore wrote in January of 2009 to Thomas Saadi, Connecticut assistant attorney general, she refers to college degrees and professional certificates as "pieces of paper" that are unnecessary when "everyone was happy" with the work that she provided. She said she had wanted to obtain the academic credentials but the process was "expensive." Margaret Bustell, one of the Norwalk parents who initially raised concerns about the quality of care her son was receiving from Lore, recalls Lore arriving for her son's therapy sessons in a Mercedes.
Lore, who holds a high school equivalency degree, has been charged with larceny, forgery and criminal impersonation. She is currently being held on $200,000 bond.
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