ORLEANS, MA — During the 13 years that Christien Atwood-Calverley worked at Stagg Chevrolet, she and her three children were treated like family.

The single mother brought a daughter to work for 2½ years to save on day care costs. For Christmas and birthdays, employers Peter and Marilyn Stagg contributed to Disney and McDonalds' stock accounts, opened for Atwood-Calverley's three children just as they did for their own grandchildren.

The dealership's employees helped then-married Atwood-Calverley move into subsidized housing in Falmouth after she lost her house. Son Garrett Stagg took Atwood-Calverley and her family for summer boat rides.

"We're a small family business and our employees mean a lot to us," Marilyn Stagg said yesterday.

Atwood-Calverley was found guilty late last month in Orleans District Court of three counts of larceny of more than $250. While she was working as the dealership's bookkeeper, Atwood-Calverley was stealing at least $43,000 of her employers' money and a lifetime of their trust in people.

"I just can't get close to anybody again," Marilyn Stagg said yesterday.

Atwood-Calverley did not return a message seeking comment at her Nissan of Bourne office yesterday afternoon. A co-worker said Atwood-Calverley, the office manager, was at work. Last night, a woman answered her home telephone then hung up. Atwood-Calverley did not return a subsequent call for comment on her answering machine.

Extra vacation pay

Atwood-Calverley is the latest of a string of trusted Cape employees involved in fraud or embezzlement. Her case stands out because of the variety of methods that she used to siphon money out of company accounts from 2000 to 2008. She paid herself bonuses, commissions and extra vacation pay, according to court and police records. She gave herself discounts on the six cars she bought from the dealership on Route 137 in Harwich. She transferred money from a company corporate account to make her car payments and marked her repair bills as paid. She used the company credit card and forged signatures to cover up its use.

"We don't really know what she stole," Peter Stagg said yesterday. "It's just unbelievable that someone who has been treated like family could steal for this long a period of time."

Atwood-Calverley's case was going to trial Oct. 5 when she agreed to admit sufficient facts for a finding of guilty. The Staggs said they were ready with 10 years of documents to prove their case. Judge Brian Merrick dismissed three charges of forgery.

Suspended sentence

Atwood-Calverley got a suspended sentence of a year in jail and was placed on probation for four years. She was ordered to pay $13,292 in restitution, the amount that the Staggs have paid for their accountant's fraud team to sift through all their records and accounts. The company's insurance is covering known financial losses.

The employee fraud is a heavy blow in hard times for Peter Stagg, a prominent name in Cape auto sales for 32 years. Earlier this year, he became one of hundreds of dealers whose Chrysler and Dodge dealerships were terminated.

The Staggs, now doing business as Cape Cod Automall, still have a Chevrolet dealership. And they still repair, service and sell used cars and trucks.

"We knew we were running out of cash, we just assumed it was the economy and sales were off," Marilyn Stagg said.

Atwood-Calverley prompted the discovery of the fraud after she left in May 2008 to work closer to her home. She called to say the Staggs owed her two week's vacation pay. Instead, the auto dealer's payroll company found Atwood-Calverley gave herself 13 extra weeks of vacation pay — $11,050 — in a little more than two years.

"If she hadn't been so greedy, looking for that extra two weeks," Marilyn Stagg said. "Then we found the (transferred) money, the car payments, the ID theft, and the forgery."