Fund for Rumanians

Three young Rumanian men, who went home earlier this month without more than $5,000 in back wages their employer owed them may get the paycheck they earned after all.

The three all worked for David Auld, a painting contractor from Gilford. Last week Auld assured Jerry Belanger of the New Hampshire Department of Labor (DOL) that he would pay the wages he owed, only to disappear. Belanger said the DOL would seek to recover the lost wages, but questioned whether Auld had sufficient means to pay them.

Bill Totten, one of the contractors who was impressed with the work the three performed and the plight they suffered, has arranged for the Bank of New Hampshire to accept donations for the three men. Judi Tucker, manager of the Laconia branch of the bank, said yesterday that anyone wishing to contribute can send checks made out to Octavian Coita to the Bank of New Hampshire, c/o Judi Tucker, 277 Union Avenue, Laconia, NH 03246. "We're very pleased to have an opportunity to help in this situation," Tucker said.

Meanwhile, following a story in yesterday's Laconia Daily Sun, Totten, who paid Auld in advanced for work he failed to perform, said that several people had told him Thursday that Auld had failed to complete work for which he had been paid and had failed to pay for goods he had purchased.