A former employee of a senior living interior design firm in Illinois faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on charges of embezzling more than $370,000 from the company.
Shawna Wolff-Geisler, who worked in the accounting department of Econocare in Lincolnwood, IL, was arrested June 14 and has been charged with the felony offenses of continuing financial crimes enterprise and theft, according to a press release from Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. She appeared in bond court June 15, and her case was continued until July 6.
Wolff-Geisler worked at Econocare from 2007 to August 2015. Her duties included handling accounts receivable and accounts payable for Econocare, which also is a group purchasing organization specializing in assisted living, retirement and long-term care facilities. Wolff-Geisler also prepared checks for authorized expenditures, although she was not authorized to sign checks.
When her employment was terminated, a financial inspection performed by the company revealed several suspicious checks written from the company’s bank account and made payable to Wolff-Geisler. Further investigation determined that approximately 80 checks had been drafted from Econocare’s bank account and made payable directly to Wolff-Geisler or to her credit card account. Each of those checks had a forged signature of Econocare’s CEO and owner.
Econocare declined to comment to McKnight’s Senior Living.
