A former accountant for a Bolingbrook landscaping company was charged with stealing $800,000 to $1 million from the company over three years, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Susan Olson-Friscia, 35, whose most recent address is in Decatur, is charged with felony theft and could face 4 to 15 years in prison.
Her sister, Brenda Shear, 34, of Minooka, also has been charged in the case, prosecutors said.
Olson-Friscia is charged with stealing the money from February 2001 to August 2004 from her former employer, R.S. Hursthouse & Associates.
“We believe she set up dummy corporations, and that’s how she funneled the money,” said Dennis Reboletti, a Will County assistant state’s attorney.
Reboletti said an internal audit by the company found the accounting irregularities.
The company has filed a civil lawsuit against Olson-Friscia to obtain its money, said one of her attorneys, James McCarron of Wheaton.
Olson-Friscia has returned about $75,000, he said.
“I think she got caught up with gambling, and I think that fueled this problem,” he said.
