DARLINGTON - A woman hired by an Argyle couple to do accounting work is charged with stealing thousands of dollars from them.
Amanda Lynn Penniston, 36, Argyle, was charged in November with theft in a business setting and three counts of misappropriating ID information to obtain money, all Class H felonies. Each charge carries a maximum punishment of up to six years in prison or a $10,000 fine, or both.
At her initial appearance Monday in Lafayette County Circuit Court, Penniston's signature bond was set at $3,000. Conditions of her bond include no contact with the couple or their property on Wisconsin 81 in rural Argyle.
According to the criminal complaint, Mary Jane and Lawrence Weiskircher hired Penniston for a few months starting in late 2016 to set up their Quickbooks accounting software. She had access to their financial information and accounts during that time.
On Aug. 1, after Penniston was no longer working for the couple, Mary Jane Weiskircher contacted law enforcement to report that a total of $2,214.40 had been spent from her credit card without her permission. In the weeks that followed, she found more unauthorized payments on her credit card and on her husband's debit card. She told law enforcement she suspected her former employee, Penniston.
In total, nearly $5,000 was reported stolen from the cards.
An investigating deputy discovered that Penniston had saved a link and log-in information to her personal PayPal account on the Weiskirchers' computer, and transactions in the account mirrored transactions in the Weiskirchers' accounts.
On Sept. 26, a deputy interviewed Penniston about the situation. Penniston said she created a PayPal account for Mary Jane Weiskircher so she could purchase software online under Weiskircher's name.
Penniston said Weiskircher allowed her to use the cards and PayPal account to pay for some of her personal utility bills and rent while she was working for the Weiskirchers, but Penniston admitted to continuing to do so even after her employment with the couple ended. She said she used Weiskirchers' cards to put money into their PayPal account and then transferred the money into her personal PayPal account.
In an attempt to obscure how she was spending the money, she went in afterward and changed the payment recipient names in multiple transactions to "WalmartPayPal." She also renamed her personal PayPal account "Cenex Argyle/Blanchardville," which are gas stations in Argyle and Blanchardville she neither works at nor owns.
State court records show Penniston was sued by a debt collection company in 2008 and still owes nearly $500 to The Cash Store in a small claims case from last year. Her next court date in the latest case is an adjourned initial appearance Dec. 18.
Amanda Lynn Penniston, 36, Argyle, was charged in November with theft in a business setting and three counts of misappropriating ID information to obtain money, all Class H felonies. Each charge carries a maximum punishment of up to six years in prison or a $10,000 fine, or both.
At her initial appearance Monday in Lafayette County Circuit Court, Penniston's signature bond was set at $3,000. Conditions of her bond include no contact with the couple or their property on Wisconsin 81 in rural Argyle.
According to the criminal complaint, Mary Jane and Lawrence Weiskircher hired Penniston for a few months starting in late 2016 to set up their Quickbooks accounting software. She had access to their financial information and accounts during that time.
On Aug. 1, after Penniston was no longer working for the couple, Mary Jane Weiskircher contacted law enforcement to report that a total of $2,214.40 had been spent from her credit card without her permission. In the weeks that followed, she found more unauthorized payments on her credit card and on her husband's debit card. She told law enforcement she suspected her former employee, Penniston.
In total, nearly $5,000 was reported stolen from the cards.
An investigating deputy discovered that Penniston had saved a link and log-in information to her personal PayPal account on the Weiskirchers' computer, and transactions in the account mirrored transactions in the Weiskirchers' accounts.
On Sept. 26, a deputy interviewed Penniston about the situation. Penniston said she created a PayPal account for Mary Jane Weiskircher so she could purchase software online under Weiskircher's name.
Penniston said Weiskircher allowed her to use the cards and PayPal account to pay for some of her personal utility bills and rent while she was working for the Weiskirchers, but Penniston admitted to continuing to do so even after her employment with the couple ended. She said she used Weiskirchers' cards to put money into their PayPal account and then transferred the money into her personal PayPal account.
In an attempt to obscure how she was spending the money, she went in afterward and changed the payment recipient names in multiple transactions to "WalmartPayPal." She also renamed her personal PayPal account "Cenex Argyle/Blanchardville," which are gas stations in Argyle and Blanchardville she neither works at nor owns.
State court records show Penniston was sued by a debt collection company in 2008 and still owes nearly $500 to The Cash Store in a small claims case from last year. Her next court date in the latest case is an adjourned initial appearance Dec. 18.