Tinley Park, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Southwest Suburban home remodeler and one of his employees have been charged with misusing a client’s credit card to pay thousands of dollars in outstanding bills owed by his company, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
William Stoecker, 53, the former owner of Atherton Industries in Tinley Park and his assistant Susan Olszak, 46, are both charged with Identity Theft, Theft, Financial Institution Fraud, and Misuse of a Credit Card. Both potentially face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
According to prosecutors, Stoecker was remodeling a client’s home in December of 2009 in New Lenox when he told the homeowner that she needed to order aluminum siding immediately to ensure it would be delivered at the appropriate time. Stoecker knew the victim wasn’t due to get a disbursement from her construction loan for some time and suggested she provide him with her credit card information to pay for siding and then pay herself back when the next loan payment arrived.
When she agreed, Olszak called the victim to tell her she was going to charge the siding to her credit card. Instead, Olszak used the card to make a $10,000 payment to a subcontractor that Atherton owed money. Part of the payment was credited to work that had been performed on Stoecker’s own home.
On another occasion, Stoecker told the victim he had found a good deal on drywall and again suggested they charge it to the victim’s credit card. Again, Stoecker used the victim’s credit card to pay a $4,000 bill that he owed to another subcontractor.
The victim eventually contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and an investigation was initiated. Bond has been set at $150,000 for Stoecker, and $30,000 for Olszak and their cases are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 21 at the Cook County Circuit Courthouse in Bridgeview.
The public is reminded that charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt. Both defendants are entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
