Former accountant gets a break in $155K Stratford embezzlement case

Wausau Pilot & Review

A former accountant who stole more than $155,000 from a Stratford business will not spend time in prison, after reaching a deal that calls for a five-year probation term.

Cora Karpinski, 53, pleaded no contest Tuesday to theft in a business setting greater than $100,000, according to online court records. Circuit Judge Greg Strasser found Karpinski guilty and adopted a written deferred entry of judgment agreement signed by all parties in the case. If Karpinski fully complies and obtains no new criminal charges, the felony charge will be dismissed outright.

Police say Karpinski, who now lists a Hayward address, issued duplicate paychecks to herself and issued unauthorized advances and bonuses. The charges were filed in July 2018, six weeks after the business owner contacted police about the theft.

Court documents show the business owner hired an outside accountant to investigate the company’s financial records and document the suspected losses.

At the time the charges were filed, the total loss including fees paid for outside accounting services was roughly $170,000. A jury trial was taken off the calendar twice before a deal was reached.