Tabitha A. Kovac ordered to pay $9,608.94 for restitution, serve 30 days in jail  

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

A 24-year-old town of Monico woman who was accused of stealing more than $12,000 when she worked at the Park City Credit Union’s Minocqua branch pleaded no contest Monday in Oneida County Circuit Court to an amended felony count of theft from a business setting.

Judge Patrick F. O’Melia placed Tabitha A. Kovac on two years of probation and sentenced her to 30 days in jail with Huber-release privileges. Her jail sentence, for which she has been give two days’ credit and must commence on or before Sept. 5, may be served in Oneida or Langlade County.

O’Melia also ordered Kovac to pay $9,608.94 for restitution, perform 200 hours of community service, have financial counseling, write a letter of apology to Park City Credit Union’s board of directors and comply with any other conditions/counseling deemed appropriate by her probation officer.

Kovac was accused of a series of thefts at the Park City Credit Union between Oct. 11, 2016, and Jan. 2, 2017.

According to a report from the Minocqua Police Department, 15 different transactions were discovered in which Kovac was accused of using her position as a loan processor at the bank to write money orders and a corporate check for personal gain with the total amount of those transactions coming to $12,174.91.

The police report further states those funds went to an account at the Ripco Credit Union in which Kovac was the account holder. After Park City Credit Union’s president contacted Ripco Credit Union’s president regarding those transactions, the account had $3,200 remaining in it and Ripco froze the account related to the money Kovac was accused of embezzling.

Kovac was also accused of having made nine automatic withdrawal transactions from various Park City Credit Union customers to pay for some of her bills. Those transactions were either returned to the customers as unauthorized transactions or refunded by Kovac, according to the police report.

Kovac was accused of stating to the bank’s chief financial officer that she stole from there because she was having a “rough patch” and had not been embezzling money from the bank for very long. The police report states Kovac was escorted from the Park City Credit Union building after being interviewed by the chief operating officer and a subsequent search of her desk found receipts for fraudulent transactions she was accused of making.

After Kovac was arrested Jan. 20 by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and transported to the jail, a police report notes she stated to the Minocqua Police officer who interviewed her that she had been printing “quite a few” checks to herself off the bank’s account without permission.

According to the police report, Kovac also reviewed a list of checks she was accused of writing to herself and found it to be accurate. She was accused of further stating when asked about why she stole the money that she had no idea why and was “stupid” for doing so.

A statement released by the Park City Credit Union noted the theft of credit union funds, which had been “discovered during a routine audit at the credit union and was quickly addressed to ensure the loss to the organization was minimized.”

“Upon discovery of the situation, (Kovac) was dismissed,” the statement said. “A full internal investigation was completed and concluded with no losses incurred by members.”