Wife of comedian’s ex-manager arraigned

In the hearing at Woburn District Court, a prosecutor said Erika L. McCauley and her husband Darryl McCauley stole millions from the Boston-born actor and comedian.

She pleaded not guilty to charges of larceny, receiving stolen property, and larceny by single scheme. She was arraigned about six months after her husband, who is being held on similar charges on $500,000 bail, reduced from the initial $3 million cash.

Judge Phyllis Broker set bail of $1 million cash for Erika McCauley, who is being held at MCI-Framingham.

Assistant Attorney General Richard D. Grundy told Broker yesterday that McCauley, 37, and her husband embezzled millions of dollars from Cook, who is Darryl McCauley’s half-brother.

Grundy said Darryl McCauley, who managed Cook’s finances from the early 1990s until recently, transferred millions of dollars from the accounts of the actor and his California-based company, Great Dane Enterprises, to the McCauleys’ joint account. The arrest report indicated that the money was taken over a five-year period.

In one instance, Darryl McCauley, as he was being replaced as Cook’s manager, allegedly forged Cook’s signature for a $3 million check, the Globe reported in January.

Grundy said the McCauleys, who have a home in Wilmington, used the money to buy a condominium in York Beach, Maine, for more than $800,000.

Recently, McCauley and her husband also invested $2.5 million in a condominium, resort, shopping, and restaurant complex in York Beach. They also invested money in restaurants in Maine and Florida, the prosecutor said.

Grundy said that after her husband’s arrest, McCauley continued using the stolen money to support her lifestyle and to invest in business ventures.

In March, he said, video surveillance showed that McCauley left her home in Maine, drove to Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge to visit her husband, and continued on to Florida, where she delivered two vacuum-packed bundles totaling $400,000 to her husband’s cousin, who was identified in court documents as Kevin Knight, who had agreed to invest the money in a restaurant. Grundy said the transaction was caught on video.

Since Darryl McCauley’s arrest, investigators searching the couple’s homes in Wilmington and York Beach have found between $600,000 and $700,000 dollars in cash, the prosecutor said.

The money was hidden in Tupperware, in vacuum-packed bags, in closets, and in a bathroom, he said.

During yesterday’s hearing, Grundy said he had received information that another $90,000 had been found in the freezer of the McCauley home in Maine. He later told a reporter that a little more than $1 million is still unaccounted for.

Defense attorney Martin Weinberg of Boston said McCauley thought her husband had earned the money she was spending.

Saying that his client did not have a criminal record, Weinberg asked Broker to place McCauley under house arrest so she could continue to run her spa business.

“It is the equivalent of being in a private, safe lock-up,’’ he said, adding that McCauley was not a flight risk.

McCauley showed little emotion during the arraignment, nodding when Broker announced July 24 as the date of the pretrial hearing.

“My client vigorously asserts her innocence,’’ Weinberg said after the arraignment. “She didn’t steal money. . . . She didn’t believe she was possessing stolen goods.’’

McCauley’s mother and three brothers were in court yesterday. Approached by a reporter afterward, one of the brothers declined to comment.

Darryl McCauley had been with Cook since the beginning of the comedian’s career. He sold merchandise at Cook’s local shows and managed his e-mail list and website. He worked as a state prison guard until a few years ago, when Cook hired him full time.

Jayakrishna can be reached at njayakrishna@globe.com.