July 7, 2014 at 3:19 p.m.
Lawyer: Wigglesworth to fight embezzlement charge
Lawyer: Wigglesworth to fight embezzlement charge
Brenda Wigglesworth, a former bookkeeper and office manager at the Northwoods Animal Hospital in Minocqua, was charged in June with one felony count of theft in a business setting.
Prosecutors contend Wigglesworth did not deposit entire proceeds of hospital earnings, wrote checks and used business credit cards for personal expenses and made unauthorized loans to herself and other employees, among other alleged improprieties.
At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Detective-Sergeant Philip Newcomb of the Oneida County sheriff's office testified he found repeated instances in which the amount of cash missing from the hospital's daily cash logs matched deposits Wigglesworth made to her personal bank accounts.
For example, Newcomb said $540 went missing one day in the fall of 2012. He testified that on the same day, Wigglesworth deposited the same amount - $540 - into her personal bank account.
But Wigglesworth's attorney, Lindsay Erickson, has questioned the propriety and sufficiency of the investigation.
At the hearing, Erickson asked Newcomb about the legal basis police had to obtain subpoenas for Wigglesworth's bank records. Assistant District Attorney Steven Michlig objected to that question, and Oneida County Circuit Judge Patrick O'Melia sustained the objection, meaning the question went unanswered.
Erickson also asked Newcomb why he had not interviewed the veterinarians who co-own the hospital. Newcomb said he had interviewed the veterinarians' wives, who he acknowledged are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business, and at least two other witnesses.
That fact is important, Erickson said, because she claimed the hospital had a practice of loaning money to employees.
Newcomb testified that in one instance, the hospital loaned an employee money to purchase a vehicle, though he said he did not believe such loans were normal.
Erickson claimed employees commonly took loans from the hospital and would pay them back through payroll deductions.
"I'm not happy with the investigation thus far," Erickson said in an interview. "There are business practices that have occurred that the detective doesn't know anything about because he didn't investigate it fully, at least at this point, before he brought charges, that I think would shed a lot of light on the situation."
After the hearing, Michlig told The Lakeland Times he would wait to see if Erickson formally challenges the subpoenas issued and search warrants executed in the case.
"Based on the information I have now I believe that the search warrants were obtained with probable cause and with authority of the court," Michlig said.
Michlig said while he could understand Erickson's concerns, the state has yet to reveal all of its evidence, which he said he has confidence in.
"As I viewed the evidence as presented at today's preliminary examination, I think that there certainly is strong evidence at this point," Michlig said. "Cases develop. Things happen. But at this point, I think the evidence is strong."
O'Melia has bound Wigglesworth over for trial, concluding that prosecutors have probable cause to believe a crime was committed.
Minocqua police first began looking into Wigglesworth in April 2013. A month later, Wigglesworth allegedly wrote a check to the hospital's owners for what she described as "what I owe the clinic."
The criminal charge centers on a five-year span in which Wigglesworth was employed at the hospital, where she had worked since 1999.
Wigglesworth, 47, is free on a $15,000 signature bond. She has no criminal record aside from the pending theft charge, according to Erickson.
If convicted, Wigglesworth could be fined up to $25,000 and jailed up to 10 years.
Her next court date is in early August.
Jonathan Anderson may be reached at [email protected].
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