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Crime & Safety

Oak Creek Woman Accused of Stealing From St. Matthew

Secretary allegedly stole $217,000 and manipulated numbers to hide the theft.

A 57-year-old Oak Creek woman is facing charges after she allegedly embezzled $217,000 while working as a secretary at .

Darlene A. Vodvarka was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Tuesday with two counts of theft of more than $10,000. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

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Officials at St. Matthew contacted earlier this year after they discovered discrepancies between the amount of money the school was supposed to receive in tuition payments and how much had actually been deposited.

After further looking into the issue, they found Vodvarka, who worked at the parish for 14 years, was manipulating records connected with a church fundraising program. She was supposed to purchase $227,390 in merchant gift cards between 2004 and 2011, which could then be purchased by families.

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Vodvarka was responsible for depositing money from the fundraiser and tuition funds and into the church's bank account. However, only $8,452 had actually been deposited during the timeframe.

Police discovered Vodvarka took $69,000 from the fundraiser program between 2004 and 2008, and $148,000 between 2009 and 2011.

Vodvarka denied taking money from the church when interviewed by police.

She's currently free on a $5,000 signature bond while awaiting trial. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 11.

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