Cary woman sentenced to 4 years for stealing from employer

A Cary woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $185,000 from her employer.

Clarissa Schauer, 40, stole the funds over a nearly four-year period from Algonquin-based World Trans International, according to prosecutors. Algonquin police arrested her in early June 2010 after an investigation that started in January of that year due to a tip from the company.

Schauer, whose responsibilities included dispersing checks to vendors of the company, cashed company checks by signing someone else’s name on them, according to police.

Between Dec. 12, 2005, and Sept. 17, 2009, she stole $185,741 from the company, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said she wrote numerous checks to herself and not the designated vendors, which was never paid back to World Trans International.

A McHenry County judge sentenced Schauer to four years in prison in court Tuesday on one count of felony theft over $100,000. She was also ordered to pay the full amount in restitution to the company, but was only able to reimburse World Trans International a small portion before the sentencing, according to prosecutors.

The charge she was convicted on carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and a minimum of four.