AUGUSTA — Claudia Viles, former tax collector for the town of Anson, pleaded not guilty Thursday to 13 charges related to hundreds of thousands of dollars in missing tax revenue.

Viles, who resigned from the job Sept. 10, is charged with theft, five counts of failure to file state income tax returns, six counts of failure to pay state income taxes, and tampering with public records. The charges stem from an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office of $438,712 in excise tax money that is missing from the Anson Town Office.

Attorney Walt McKee stands with Claudia Viles as she enters pleas of not guilty in an initial appearance Thursday in Kennebec County criminal court in Augusta. She is charged with 13 counts related to tax fraud at the Anson Town Office. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Viles, 65, said little during her arraignment Thursday morning at the Capital Judicial Center except to enter the plea. She declined to comment outside court after the hearing. Wearing a black pantsuit and tinted glasses, she was accompanied by several people, including Anson Selectwoman Inez Moody. Bail was set at $10,000.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin, who is prosecuting the case, asked that special conditions be included in the bail, including that Viles be barred from her duties as tax collector and that she turn over any town property in her possession, including keys to the Town Office and any town records.

Walter McKee, Viles’ attorney, said Viles already has returned her keys to the Town Office and doesn’t have any town records in her possession. “There is nothing to be returned,” he said. McKee said it made no sense for the judge to bar Viles from duties as tax collector, because she already has resigned.

The indictment charges Viles with tampering with records from 2010 and part of 2013. Anson Administrative Assistant Tammy Murray would not comment Wednesday on whether the records are still missing.

In August, Justice Robert Mullen approved a lien on Viles’ North Anson home as part of a lawsuit the town has against her. That lawsuit is on hold while the criminal charges are pending.

Viles hasn’t commented on the missing money but has denied the allegations made against her in the lawsuit. She was tax collector, an elected official, for 42 years and remained on the job through much of the investigation. Town officials said they had no way to fire her or limit her duties because she was elected and the town has no recall ordinance. State law provides a recall procedure for elected officials that applies only to officials who are convicted of crimes involving their municipalities while they are in office.

The investigation into the missing money began in December, when former Administrative Assistant Triss Smith found a discrepancy of $78,645 between the amount of money Viles had reported collecting in 2014 and the amount deposited in the town’s bank account.

Smith, who started working for the town in May 2014, installed a computer system in September that automatically credits payments, and the town began making daily deposits of money taken in.

Smith told police that she first asked Viles if they could figure out together what went wrong, but Viles was “adamant” that she would work it out herself.

In January, the town contacted Purdy Powers & Co. to do an audit, which confirmed that $76,686 was missing from the 2014 town accounts.

Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Arnold Luce said the town always has conducted monthly audits of tax records, and he believes auditors were given false information during those audits.

A review in March of how Viles processed excise tax payments revealed that she wasn’t recording the correct numbers even though she appeared to understand how to do the job, according to court records.

Since then, audits of subsequent years of tax records have revealed shortfalls of $112,491 in 2013, $125,356 in 2012 and $110,756 in 2011. The total amount missing from 2014 was $90,109. The cost to the town to audit a single year’s worth of records is about $8,000, and the selectmen are debating whether to continue reviewing previous years’ tax records.

The town already has recovered $250,000 through an insurance policy with the Maine Municipal Association, the maximum allowed under the policy, and it is unclear whether any more money could be recovered, Luce said.

Viles’ next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28.

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