FraudBaron.com

The investigation into Sziraki has been ongoing for nine months, according to the district attorney's office. The district attorney's office alleges that Sziraki arranged for company wire transfers to go into her own account and that she used the company credit cards to purchase items for herself. Ken Spagnola, co-owner of Central Valley Processing, believes Sziraki started stealing from the company in 2006, shortly after she took over some of the duties of an ailing plant manager. Spagnola's first inkling that something was amiss was in December 2007, when he was told the company owed the Internal Revenue Service more than $90,000 in unpaid payroll taxes. Shortly after that, he said he was contacted by a nut broker who said his company had not been paid. Spagnola said he felt that with Sziraki's connection to law enforcement that it could be "a touchy" situation, so he hired a forensic accountant to look into the company's finances. Spagnola said the accountant reported that the bookkeeping records were in disarray and found a number of suspicious activities. Among those discoveries were wire transfers into Sziraki's personal account. "The list just went on and on," Spagnola said. "The more we dug into it, the worse it got." Spagnola took his concerns and evidence to the district attorney's office in April 2008. Spagnola said he had a good working relationship with Sziraki and he "never had any qualms" about her abilities and trustworthiness. "I'm very disappointed," Spagnola said. "I feel like I've been stabbed in the back." According to the district attorney's office, Sziraki has admitted to doing some of the activities that led to the charges being filed. She is currently the only person charged in the case. Her husband is not considered a suspect. None of the $832,000 has been recovered. Spagnola believes the actual amount stolen is close to $1 million. He said the company has had to take on some significant debt "to cover her collateral damage. That's the real killer," he said.