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July 23, 2009

Woman arraigned on embezzlement charge

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer

A North Enid woman was arraigned Thursday on charges stemming from the theft of more than $90,000 from a business she worked at from 2005 to 2008.

Sandra Michele Chance, 45, also known as Sandra Wisenhunt, was charged with embezzlement and altering/forging written instruments, both felonies.

The embezzlement charge carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of no more than $10,000. The forgery charge is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, the owner of North American Stone Crafters, Larry Augustus, was contacted by Internal Revenue Service and Oklahoma Tax Commission for improperly completed property taxes.

As Augustus began reviewing past records, he discovered evidence that lead him to believe a former office manager, Chance, had embezzled funds, the affidavit states. While reviewing records, he found several checks issued by Chance and later deposited in her Central National Bank account, checks made out by Chance to her family and unapproved checks made out to employees that were forged and deposited into Chance’s account. All of the checks were endorsed by Chance and had her bank account number handwritten below the endorsement, according to the affidavit.

An FBI agent interviewed Chance, and showed her copies of the checks. She admitted to taking the money from the company for personal use due to financial strain and a gambling problem, the affidavit states.

On June 17, Chance was interviewed by an Enid Police Department detective, who asked her to look over some of the checks. The checks were organized in four categories: checks issued to Sandra Chance, duplicate checks, deposits of other employee checks into her account and checks made out to family members.

According to the affidavit, the value of the checks Chance issued to herself is $35,084. The value of the duplicated checks is $17,504, the value of deposited checks of other employees is $24,525 and checks made out to family members totaled $19,347. The total amount of the checks is $96,461.53.

Chance is being held in lieu of $7,500 bond and was ordered to appear in court again Aug. 24 for a bond appearance.

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