GENESEO, N.Y. — A house cleaner is charged with cleaning out $54,000 of jewelry and personal items from homes she was hired to clean in Geneseo.

Police say 58-year-old Maureen E. Schirmer was cleaning out their jewelry boxes instead.  

Not only is Schirmer accused of stealing the jewelry of two homeowners, she also allegedly pawned the items.

Marsha Augustin: How long has the investigation been going on before it got to this?

NYSP Trooper Lynnea Crane: Back in November is when this started. The beginning of November.

Schirmer is from Geneseo, is self-employed and operated a cleaning service. She was hired to clean homes in the area. However, two homeowners noticed their jewelry and other items had been stolen and notified police.

“We got involved in the investigation to see if there are any other possible victims out there that may know about this,” Crane said.

Court documents say between January 2023 and October 2023 Schirmer allegedly stole items from the homes of two victims: $34,000 in personal belongings form one home and $20,000 in belongings from another home. She then allegedly pawned the jewelry.

“As part of our investigative process, anytime we have burglaries or larcenies, things like that, we would go normally to pawn shops to see if any of those items would be there,” Crane said.

Police continue to investigate and are asking other victims to come forward.

“A lot of times when people come into your home to clean it, sometimes things will be out of place. They’ll call their cleaner and say, ‘Hey, do you know where this is?’ Then maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not there and you kind of chock it up to ‘maybe we lost it or I misplaced it,’” Crane said.

According to Crane and the court documents Schirmer has been arrested and charged with two separate counts of grand larceny, a felony.

Schirmer is scheduled to be back in the Town of Geneseo Court in Livingston County on Feb. 6.

If you have any information or may be a victim, contact NYSP Troop E Headquarters at (585) 398-4100.

NYSP has some recommendations before hiring outside services.

— Look into a reputable company.

— Get references.

— Talk to previous employers and see how things worked out with that person.