Former newspaper circulation district manager arrested on forgery, theft charges

ALBANY — William Lemon, a former district manager in the circulation department at The Albany Herald, has been arrested on multiple charges of forgery and theft by deception.

Lemon was taken into custody late this morning and charged with 16 counts of forgery in the fourth degree and two counts of theft by deception. The charges were filed after representatives of The Herald contacted Albany Police Department with evidence of several apparent irregularities in the handling of company finances.

Some of the charges stem from financial transactions involving the newspaper’s carrier bond program. Independent contractors who deliver the newspaper are required to post a bond before they begin their deliveries. The bond money is returned when a contractor end his or her association with the company.

Ken Boler, The Herald’s general manager, said an internal investigation showed that several unapproved bond checks were issued for former carriers, but were not received by those contractors.

Boler also said there were situations in which carriers received checks for as much as $750 more than the amount owed them. In those cases, Boler said, Lemon instructed the carrier to cash the check and return the overpayment amount to him. Lemon told the carriers he would return the money to the company, but did not, Boler said.

“This is an unfortunate situation, but we must do whatever is necessary to protect our employees, our independent contractors and the company,” said Michael J. Gebhart, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Southern Community Newspapers Inc., the parent company of The Albany Herald.