6-year sentence for woman who embezzled $4.3 million

A New Freedom, Pa. woman says gambling addiction is why she embezzled $4.3 million while working at the Susquehanna Valley Surgical Center in Harrisburg. Donna Marie Wozniak, age 57, pleaded guilty to embezzlement and tax evasion in August 2017. She had worked as the business manager at the surgical center from 2000 until she was fired in 2014.

Now she is serving a 71-month sentence.

A forensic audit found Wozniak had written company checks to herself and then manipulated accounting software to cover her tracks. When confronted, she confessed to the thefts.

The IRS charged Wozniak with tax evasion because she did not report the illicit income.

Note: Prevent this kind of theft by requiring all large expenditures to be approved by two employees. Additionally, don’t wait until suspicions arise to audit your books. Regular audits by an outside firm should be the norm.