(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Yale woman has been accused of embezzling a total of $185,739 from Wheeldock Company while she was employed as the Stillwater firm’s bookkeeper, a position she held for six years, court records show.
Donna Jones Stanford, 62, remains free on $50,000 bail pending a Nov. 5 appearance before a Payne County judge, court records show.
If convicted of three counts of embezzlement, allegedly occurring between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2017, Stanford could be given as much as a 30-year prison term and a $30,000 fine, according to the charge filed by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Jeremiah Gregory last week.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent Charles R. Dancer was asked on Sept. 9, 2017, by Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy George Disel to assist in the investigation, court records show.
On Sept. 21, 2017, the owner of Wheeldock Company told the OSBI agent that he had hired Stanford as his company bookkeeper on Sept. 9, 2011, and fired her on Aug. 21, 2017, an affidavit alleged.
After Stanford was fired, the Wheeldock Company owner discovered that Stanford “had fraudulently obtained four credit cards,” in the name of the company and the owner, the OSBI agent alleged in his affidavit.
“Stanford made numerous unauthorized personal purchases with these credit cards,” and with the credit cards of two other employees, the affidavit alleged.
“The unauthorized credit card purchases totaled $166,036. Stanford also wrote fraudulent Wheeldock company checks to herself and family for advances, vacation, and overtime. The total amount Stanford embezzled was $185,739,” the affidavit alleged.
The Wheeldock owner had three company credit cards, two of which he did not use, that Stanford “had obtained fraudulent duplicates of,” the affidavit alleged. Stanford also fraudulently obtained two other separate company credit cards, the affidavit alleged.
One of the Wheeldock employees was issued a company credit card that he never used, but Stanford did use to make unauthorized personal purchases, the affidavit alleged. Stanford also used an employee’s credit card after the employee left the company, the affidavit alleged.
“In 2012 and 2013, Stanford made $50,048 worth of fraudulent purchases using Wheeldock company credit cards she had fraudulently obtained,” the affidavit alleged. Those fraudulent purchases included $39 at a Stillwater grocery store, $191 at a Stillwater hotel, $43 at a Cushing liquor store, and $96 at the United States Postal Service, the affidavit alleged.
“In 2014 and 2015, Stanford made $73,517 worth of fraudulent purchases using fraudulently obtained Wheeldock company cards,” the affidavit alleged. Those fraudulent purchases included $34 at a Cushing veterinarian, $25 at a Stillwater copier, $147 at a Stillwater discount store, $70 at the Perkins Municipal Court and $141 at a Stillwater discount store, the affidavit alleged.
“In 2016 and 2017, Stanford made $42,471 worth of fraudulent purchases using fraudulently obtained Wheeldock company credit cards,” the affidavit alleged. Those fraudulent purchases included $1,330 at a Stillwater credit bureau, $110 at a Stillwater hotel and $921 at an on-line shoe store, the affidavit alleged.
On Oct. 19, 2017, a man said that he was employed at Wheeldock from April 2007 to March 2017, the affidavit said. Around 2009, the Wheeldock owner authorized a company credit card for the man, who said he never carried or used the credit card that he left with Stanford, the bookkeeper, the affidavit alleged.
On Oct. 20, 2017, another man said that he worked for Wheeldock for six years, the affidavit said. Around late August of 2017, the man said he “heard money was missing from the company and that the company bookkeeper, Donna Stanford might have been involved,” the affidavit alleged. “In late August or early September 2017, Stanford called (the man) and said she would take full responsibility and not to blame her children,” the affidavit alleged.
On April 4 of this year, one of Stanford’s sons said that in April, June, July and August of 2017, his mother wrote him four $500 Wheeldock Company checks totaling $2,000 that she said was her money, the affidavit alleged. Her son cashed the checks and gave the money to his mother, who gave him $100 for cashing the checks, the affidavit alleged.
On April 4 of this year, another one of Stanford’s sons said that he had worked for Wheeldock for about 10 years and was given a company credit card, which he used for business purposes, the affidavit alleged. When that son left Wheeldock in March 2017, he said that he left his credit card with his mother, the company bookkeeper, the affidavit alleged. Some time later, his mother “called him about a $900 charge for shoes that was on the Wheeldock credit card,” a charge that he said he did not know about, the affidavit alleged. His mother later told him it was a fraudulent charge, the affidavit alleged.
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