Fall Creek woman charged with stealing thousands of dollars from employer

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - A Fall Creek woman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars of cash from her employer.

60-year-old Jeanie Frederiksen was charged with theft in a business setting Tuesday in Eau Claire County Circuit Court.

According to documents filed with the charges, the owner of The Shed in Altoona, noticed that money had gone missing from their business. After reviewing security camera footage, the owner believed that Frederiksen, a part-time employee at the business, was taking cash from the register. In April, the owner went to make a cash deposit and noticed that there was only one $20 bill in the register and no other large bills, and told the Altoona Police Department that the register always started the day with five $20 bills in it. The owner installed additional security cameras and on May 4 said that the business was $400 short on cash. According to the owner, the footage showed Frederiksen taking cash during a transaction and fold it in half, placing it in the register, and then on the next transaction placing the cash in her purse.

In the criminal complaint filed to the court, the Altoona Police Department noted several instances where Frederiksen folds the bills as the owner described, take them out of the register, walk out of the camera’s view and then come back into view with her hands empty. A second camera shows Frederiksen bending down to the floor behind the register with the cash and then standing back up with empty hands.

According to court documents, Frederiksen initially denied taking any money from the business, but when she was told that there was footage of her taking money, she said that she had only taken a small amount and only a few times, about $40 per month. Police said that the footage showed her taking $100 bills out of the register, and Frederiksen said that she wouldn’t take $100 bills out of the register because ‘that would show up.’ The owner said that on May 2 and May 4, the days that Frederiksen worked, $700 in cash was missing. Police asked Frederiksen to describe how she took the money, and she said that when customers would pay with cash, she would give the customer their change but record the transaction was done with a credit card. The owner accused Frederiksen of taking over $10,000, which Frederiksen denied. Police asked her why she had taken the money, and she said it was because she wasn’t being paid enough for her work.

The owner met with police in August with a full accounting of financial records from the five years Frederiksen was employed by The Shed. After adding up cash transactions and reviewing cash deposits, the owner said that their business lost $43,363 from Dec. 2017 to May 2022. In November, police met with Frederiksen to ask how much she had taken. Frederiksen said that she had been taking cash for at least five years and would take money every other shift. Frederiksen again told police she didn’t feel like she was getting paid enough and used the money she stole on food and clothing. Frederiksen said the most she ever took in a day was $40, and said that it would be fair to say she took $20 a week for five years, which adds up to $5,000.

An initial appearance for the case is scheduled for Jan. 12 in Eau Claire County Circuit Court.