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SALT LAKE CITY — The former manager of a furniture exchange company has been charged with fraud and arrested.
Misty Lee Vanieperen, 37, was charged Aug. 7 in 3rd District Court with unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary, a second-degree felony; two counts of unlawful use of a financial transaction card, one second-degree felony and one class B misdemeanor; two counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial transaction card, both third-degree felonies; and forgery, a third-degree felony. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and she was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday.
In March 2012, Vanieperen was the office manager of Office Furniture Exchange, according to court records. Her job included paying employees and company expenses, the charges state. She did not have permission to sign actual checks.
In January, the company accountant found Vanieperen was "making out unauthorized extra checks to herself, as well as employee advances in the amount of $37,591.72," according to the charges.
She is also accused of using the company's credit card to make more than $37,000 in unauthorized purchases for herself at Walgreens, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, DirecTV, Open Book Finance and a couple of restaurants, court records state.
Vanieperen admitted making duplicate checks to investigators, according to the charges, but denied signing them. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday.
