courtesy of the Morning Sun:

A Mt. Pleasant woman is facing a hearing later this month to determine if she should face trial for embezzlement and another criminal charge.

Jenfier Kae Jerman, 37, of Mt. Pleasant is scheduled to be in Isabella County Trial Judge Eric Janes’ Mt. Pleasant courtroom Sept. 28 at 10 a.m.

Isabella County Prosecutor Risa Hunt-Scully charged Jerman last week with one count of embezzlement of $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony; and one count of forgery, a 14-year felony.

Jerman is free on 10 percent of a $30,000 bond.

Mt. Pleasant police began an investigation when a representative from J. Murray, a wholesale tobacco, candy and novelties distributor at 708 E. Broadway St., contacted detectives about an embezzlement, according to court documents.

Detective Charles Morrison met with the owners of the company, who said there was a nearly $200,000 difference in balances in their ledger and what was actually in their account, according to court documents.

Jerman was a bookkeeper at the company and was in charge of payroll.

J. Murray owners gave Morrison bank statements and several allegedly forged checks from 2013 through this year, according to court records.

As of Aug. 30, the amount of allegedly forged payroll checks totaled $148,338.87, according to court records.

An investigating accountant gave police a spreadsheet of all of the account information and it was determined that Jerman wrote the checks to herself, cashed them, then allegedly changed the amounts in the J. Murray system, according to court records.

“Jerman was to receive one paycheck per week for services,” according to the affidavit supporting the criminal complaint. “Jerman was receiving anywhere from eight to 12 paychecks per month.

“The amounts varied from $300 to $400 plus per check.”

Morrison met with Jerman, who waived her Miranda rights and confessed to forging payroll checks with the owners’ names, according to court documents.

She confessed to Morrison “that she had been passing payroll checks for approximately three years,” according to the affidavit. “She confessed that the values were between $300 and $400.”

Jerman also told Morrison the total was a little more than $100,000, according to court records.