Victory Twp. woman charged with embezzling over $50,000 in gift cards.

Larr

LUDINGTON — A Victory Township woman has been charged with embezzling between $50,000 to $100,000 in gift cards.

Valerie Kay Larr, 55, of Victory Twp. was was arraigned on October 10 by Mason County Magistrate Patricia Baker on one count of embezzlement by agent $50,000-$100,000 occurring between September 1, 2012 and May 1, 2013.  The offense is a felony punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison.

The charges were filed by Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Spaniola following an investigation by the Michigan State Police Detective David Johnson.

“Det. Johnson’s investigation revealed that Mrs. Larr had obtained for her personal benefit numerous Walmart gift cards valued at nearly $75,000 from her employer Aramark and paid for by Aramark’s client, Oxychem,” Spaniola said in a press release. “It had been represented by Mrs. Larr that these gift cards were intended for other Aramark employees and contractors as rewards for good job performance.  It is alleged that Mrs. Larr retained these Wal-Mart gift cards and used them to purchase items for herself and her family including groceries, automobile service, and other general merchandise and services.  Her actions were discovered by a routine audit by Aramark corporate officials and reported to the Michigan State Police.”

Larr has been released on a $10,000 personal recognizance  bond to appear next for a preliminary examination on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 11:15 a.m.  She is represented by attorney Ryan Glanville of Ludington.