By Vicky Wedig
Staff Writer
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12 for a Janesville woman charged with issuing $28,000 worth of fraudulent checks to herself from her Whitewater employer.
Jessica A. Klingaman, 36, was charged Oct. 17 in Walworth County Circuit Court with 42 counts of unauthorized use of an entity’s identifying information or documents and theft by false representation of more than $10,000. Each of the identity theft charges carries maximum sentences of $10,000 in fines and six years in prison, or $420,000 in fines and 252 years in prison on all 42 counts. The theft charge carries maximum penalties of $25,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, between Sept. 29, 2014, and April 11, 2016, Klingaman issued $28,338 in fraudulent checks to herself from the account of her employer, Amerigas in Whitewater.
Supervisors at Amerigas reported in April that Klingaman, who worked at Amerigas since December 2013, would credit customer accounts and then modify refund checks from those accounts into her name, according to the complaint.
A manager from the company’s fraud department said Klingaman would enter refunds or discounts into customers’ accounts to create a credit balance. A check would then be generated and issued to the customer, and Klingaman would use her employee computer access to change the name and address on the check from the customer’s name to her own and then deposit the checks into her personal bank account, according to the complaint. Klingaman did so on 42 transactions with checks ranging from $24.18 to $2,838.87 and totaling $28,337.53.
When police spoke to Klingaman, she allegedly admitted issuing the checks to herself when she needed money for bills but said she did not realize how much money she had stolen, according to the complaint.
