Ex-Steamship Authority Worker Imprisoned For Fraud

The former bookkeeper for the Falmouth-based Steamship Authority has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $144,000 from the agency.

Armine Estelle Sabatini of Mashpee was also sentenced in federal court to three years of probation and ordered to repay the money she stole from October 2001 through September 2009.

Prosecutors say the 36-year-old woman fraudulently processed 381 credit card refund transactions and directed the money to accounts she controlled.

The Steamship Authority, which connects the mainland to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, tells the Cape Cod Times it has taken steps to prevent a similar situation.

A phone listing for Sabatini was not in service.