Woman suspected of embezzling $800,000
Podcast Episode
A Delavan woman is facing felony charges after investigators say she embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from her employer. Kyle Geissler reports.
ELKHORN — A Delavan woman accused of embezzling $800,000 from a home-building company wrote checks to herself and her friend to show horses, according to court documents.
Kari Sue Clark-Branton, 39, of W7904 R and D Townline Road, Delavan, remains free on a signature bond after getting charged with two counts of party to felony theft.
According to the criminal complaint:
Clark-Branton was responsible for accounts payable and receivable at Home Design Manufacturing in Walworth Township from 1992 to 2008. Fred P. Sjoberg III owns the company that builds custom homes.
Clark-Branton replaced Joanne Anderson, who left after being accused of making unauthorized charges on the company's credit card. Anderson recommended Clark-Branton as her replacement.
Sjoberg told police in March his accountant reviewed his business records back to 2003 and found more than $800,000 missing.
Sjoberg told police Clark-Branton admitted in February to stealing from the business, saying she stole $150,000 to $200,000.
An investigator interviewed the accountant, who said about $498,500 in checks were written to Clark-Branton from 2001 to 2008. About $413,500 in checks were written to Blue Hills Lippitt Morgans, a local horse business owned by Anderson.
The investigator in June interviewed Clark-Branton, who admitted to writing 500 to 1,000 unauthorized checks on the company's account. She confessed to forging the owner's signature and admitted manipulating the company's computer programs to hide checks.
Clark-Branton told the investigator she wrote checks to herself and to Blue Hills Lippitt Morgans. Clark-Branton said she wanted her friend to realize her lifelong dream of showing horses.
Clark-Branton received e-mails from Anderson listing the bills for the horse farm. She then wrote checks for some of the bills if she felt she wouldn't get caught.
Clark-Branton also confessed to overpaying herself in paychecks and bonuses.
In a February letter, Clark-Branton told her boss that Anderson was trying to get money to pay him back. Anderson was contacting family members. She also was trying to sell her horses.
Anderson has not been charged.
The Janesville Gazette was not able to reach Sjoberg for comment.
Clark-Branton is scheduled to be in court Wednesday, Nov. 5.
Sjoberg also has filed a civil lawsuit against Clark-Branton and Anderson, asking for money for his company's lost profits. The lawsuit accuses Clark-Branton and Anderson of conspiring to steal and embezzle money from his company.
Jan 1, 2010 at 3:13 p.m.
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This story is as bad as Christina Whitehouse's case in Milwaukee. Christina Whitehouse stole more than $60,000 from Family Photo and never paid a dime back! Christina Whitehouse of Milwaukee was an entrusted employee who went to Prison for her crime of stealing and theft and only served a portion of her probation and then got to get off probation early. The victim, Family Photo was victimized twice! They should have at lease gotten her to pay something! Thank Milwaukee DOC for letting her get off the hook so easy - pathetic!
Jul 9, 2009 at 9:47 a.m.
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What is wrong with this picture? I know someone that is in prison for 8 years, no early release for good behavior, and another 7 years of supervision for taking half this amount. What is this only 2 1/2 years?
Oct 23, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.
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Does anyone know....I believe this gal was a Walworth County Dairy Queen or Princess....
Oct 23, 2008 at 4:34 p.m.
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"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." -- Nixon aide Robert McCloskey, supposedly backtracking on an admission that the US was conducting military raids within Laos
Oct 22, 2008 at 4:35 p.m.
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polert: lol lol lol lol lol
Oct 22, 2008 at 11:12 a.m.
Oct 21, 2008 at 8:46 p.m.
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ummmm i think yer sayin that when general powell endorsed president obama you instantly turned into a 12 year old in discussions??
Oct 21, 2008 at 8:40 p.m.
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bella - not having the same views as you does not make my comment moronic. Try being a little more tolerant of others.
Oct 21, 2008 at 6:36 p.m.
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I'm not surprised.... I'm in the Milton School District and Ms. Quinn had no problem for years, till things started to surface and she couldn't cover her tracks anymore.
This woman is lucky she got by with it for this long... Unfortunately, people still want to trust others, (her boss is a prime example...) he just couldn't bring himself to have the "checks and balances" in place, because it would make him seem as if he didn't trust his employees. I am not familiar with the company involved, but when dealing with small companies in rural America, its more a family environment than Corporate.
I feel so sorry for this guy, talk about getting stabbed in the back... not just once but twice! "Fool me once..." comes to mind.
Oct 21, 2008 at 6:12 p.m.
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The kid but you know that $150 million dollar guy is hiring the man that gave the speech to the UN, and advised to 10 Billion dollar man that we had to spend that money it was urgent to save the world. So you will see another setup from the former unemployed man who resigned when thing started going bad, and it might have discredited him. Sad to say we will repeat history if 150 dollar man achieve his goal.
Oct 21, 2008 at 2:48 p.m.
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good point polert. theres also a guy who lied and is costing us 10 billion bux a month of borrowed money. 800 large is peanuts...but then again compared to that number so is 150 mill.;)
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:43 p.m.
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Heck a guy right now is lying to steal 150 million dollar from people. $800,000 is peanuts.
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.
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I agree with jviers, janesvillean, and others - the owner really showed poor judgement in hiring the person recommended by the former employee who embezzled him! I bet he won't do that again. Still - the embezzlers should be punished for their crimes and made to repay what they stole.
kleej - yawn.
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:10 p.m.
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is the owner involved in this; like a insurance scam
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:07 p.m.
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p.s. I'm not a McCain supporter either... u are 0 for 2 now!
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:06 p.m.
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bella, Are you an Obama backer too? I mean, you sure have the characteristics of one. Coming in here and trying to play God and all.
Oct 21, 2008 at 1:03 p.m.
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Is it really worth it, now she will have to go to jail and most likely have to pay the money back. As for the company owner, why would you hire someone that was recommended by the person you fired for using the Company Credit Card. Can you say DUH!!!
Oct 21, 2008 at 12:28 p.m.
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First you fire someone for unauthorized use of the company's credit card (theft) and then you accept their recommendation of who to hire to replace them. And then you don't keep track of what they are doing for years. Huh?
Next I suppose they'll ask Clark-Branton for a recommendation for her replacement.
Oct 21, 2008 at 12:11 p.m.
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jviers77, I think you have a significant point. It doesn't remove any responsibility from the perpetrators, but the owner was quite unwise to use an identified thief as a reference.
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Someone with that much unsupervised control over money should be given a mandatory two-week vacation every year during which someone contracted independently does the books. (Seriously -- embezzlers often present themselves as so dedicated and hard-working they never take a vacation. Well, guess why.)
Oct 21, 2008 at 12:03 p.m.
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What's funny about those comments (kleej/puffer) is I would expect them to come from McCain and Palin themselves. I'm so tired of them spewing out nonsense. Here's a thought.. say something worthwhile that might actually make me consider voting for you!
Oct 21, 2008 at 11:39 a.m.
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Imagine that, McCain supporters posting moronic comments.
Oct 21, 2008 at 11:29 a.m.
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kleej and puffer - wow. You've set a new benchmark for moronic comments on this site. Hard to do. You must be proud.
Oct 21, 2008 at 11:18 a.m.
Oct 21, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.
Oct 21, 2008 at 10:54 a.m.
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Crime really DOES pay ..... after all.
Oct 21, 2008 at 10:52 a.m.
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*district
Oct 21, 2008 at 10:37 a.m.
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I am so tired of the people who steal from business, to the tune of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and end up with a literal slap on the wrist. I am not exaggerating. Do some research and find out what the women who stole thousands and thousands of dollars from the Milton school disctict are doing now.
Embezzlers need to be treated like the common criminals they are, and do some serious prison time.
Oct 21, 2008 at 10:34 a.m.
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Ok, I'm not removing blame from the women who embezzled from their boss, but what in the hell was Mr. Sjoberg doing hiring someone recommended by the woman he had just fired for making unauthorized purchases on the company credit card??? What a rube. This seems to have been a well thought out scheme that went on for years without the boss knowing.
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