HARTFORD — A 61-year-old woman is facing numerous charges after officials say she embezzled money from the company where she was the chief financial officer.
Vicki Berka, 61, is charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin.
A news release from the attorney's office says Berka embezzled around $2.7 million from Bader Rutter & Associates between July 2014 and September 2017. It said Berka used her authority to initiate several transfers from Bader's corporate accounts into a bank account she controlled.
After transferring the money, officials said she made false entries in Bader's general ledger to disguise what she was doing. Berka allegedly went on to engage in "unlawful monetary transactions by transferring and spending these proceeds," according to the attorney's office.
If convicted on all the charges, Berka could face a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison: 20 years for each count of wire fraud and 10 years for each count of unlawful monetary transactions.
Correction: Berka is accused of embezzling $2.7 million, not $1.2 million, as initially written in the body of this report.
