Police: $433,000 Stolen By Oak Park Clerk, Husband Went To Everyday Purchases
OAK PARK (WWJ/AP) - An investigator says $433,000 missing from an Oakland County suburb is gone, spent by an award-winning employee and her husband.
Stephanie Sumner waived a key hearing Thursday and was ordered to trial on two counts of embezzling more than $100,000, and one count of embezzling up to $30,000. She's expected to be arraigned later this month.
Sumner's husband, Michael, also appeared in court Thursday, where he requested a court-appointed lawyer. He faces five charges of embezzling up to $20,000, and is due back in court on October 29.
Stephanie Sumner was a deputy city clerk in Oak Park for about three years until she was fired last spring. She's accused of submitting bogus invoices to Oak Park to issue checks to her husband, who was a part-time election worker. In all, 54 checks were issued to Michael Sumner.
Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Cole told The Daily Tribune that the couple spent the money on everyday items and investigators "weren't able to recover any of it."
"There weren't any large purchases made," Cole told the newspaper. "The money was pretty much spent from their joint bank account as it came in. ... They didn't spend the money on anything illegal."
The city says the losses were covered by insurance.
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