An Iron River woman who allegedly siphoning more than $30,000 in cash from her employer, Prime Appliance, of Superior, made her initial appearance in Douglas County Circuit Court on Tuesday, March 16.
Lisa Annette Polkoski, 46, faces one count of felony theft in a business setting. She waived her preliminary hearing during the Tuesday appearance, according to online court records. A $5,000 signature bond was set for Polkoski, with the condition that she have no contact with the Superior business.
Polkoski was employed by Prime Appliance from March 2016 to January 2018, where she was responsible for bringing daily cash deposits to the bank, according to Superior Police Department reports. An internal audit revealed that the business experienced a shortage of nearly $51,000 out of the cash deposits during that time frame. An investigation by Detective Chris Moe with the police department revealed that after the shortages started, Polkoski began making deposits for the business less frequently, every two to three days, instead of daily.
In 2017, the cash deposit shortages from the business totaled a little over $38,000. Bank records requested by Moe showed Polkoski made cash deposits to her personal accounts of nearly $37,400 that same year. The deposits were in addition to any pay she received, according to police reports.
Moe found a correlation between the missing cash and payments Polkoski made on her personal credit cards and other debt. He listed a number of instances where credit card payments had been made within days of the business cash going missing, and in amounts close to the total that had been taken.
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If convicted of the Class G felony, Polkoski faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $25,000. Her next court appearance was set for May 21.
