Former Westwood Couple Found Guilty for Partners Healthcare Theft

Carol Peterson, a former Westwood resident, and her husband Robert were sentenced to prison in Norfolk Superior Court this week after being from Partners Healthcare.

Peterson, 59, a current resident of Cape Coral, Florida, was charged with two counts of larceny over $250, two counts of false entries in corporate books and conspiracy, said Harry Pierre, a spokesperson for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, which released a statement on the case Thursday. 

Peterson's husband, Robert Peterson, 67, pled guilty to charges of larceny over $250 and conspiracy.

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Kaplan sentenced the couple to two and a half years in the house of correction, one year to serve with the balance suspended for three years, Pierre said. Both must also complete 250 hours of community service.

The sentence comes nearly a year after the Petersons were , which charged that the couple had purchased cell phones, GPS devices, cameras, DVDs and office supplies, among other items, with the stolen money.

The Attorney General's Office began investigating the couple last July, after Partners Community Healthcare, Inc., a division of Partners Healthecare at which Carol Peterson was formerly an employee, discovered that Peterson and her husband had stolen about $450,000 from the company by creating fraudulent invoices from three companies they controlled.

Peterson was the executive director of two medical practices related to PCHI, according to the Attorney General's Office. In her role, Peterson was responsible for reviewing and approving the payment of invoices received by the two medical practices.

Additionally, Peterson stole about $36,000 from PCHI in another scheme, in which she deceived the company into paying for personal purchases.

The prosecutor in the case was Margret Cooke, Chief of Coakley's Fraud and Financial Crimes Division, and Lee Hettinger, Chief of Coakley's Western Massachusetts Office.

The case was investigated by Financial Investigators Taylor Glynn and Jessie Dean, who were assisted by the Massachusetts State Police, according to Thursday's news release.