- Lori Durbano, 57, is charged with theft and tax evasion in Riverdale.
- She allegedly embezzled $600,000 from Ron J. Peterson Construction since 2018.
- Investigators reported finding payments disguised as business expenses for personal credit card debt.
RIVERDALE — A Riverdale woman was charged Wednesday with stealing an estimated $600,000 from her employer to pay off her credit card debts.
Lori Jonnelle Durbano, 57, is charged in 3rd District Court with theft and six counts of tax evasion, second-degree felonies, and six counts of filing a false tax return, a third-degree felony.
The Utah State Tax Commission's Criminal Investigation Unit was notified in July that Durbano was suspected of embezzlement, and was under investigation for allegedly "stealing nearly $600,000 from her employer, Ron J. Peterson Construction, Inc," according to charging documents.
Durbano was hired by the company in 2009 and was in charge of accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing and payroll, the charges state.
According to investigators, Durbano asked her boss for a pay advance in 2018 "because she had maxed out her credit card," and he agreed because he often helped employees.
"Unbeknownst to Mr. Peterson, Lori Durbano continued to use company money to pay on her credit card for years. Mr. Peterson found that some of the credit card payments were coded as advances in the accounting system, but most of them were disguised as materials," according to the charges.
Investigators reviewed credit card transactions from 2018 to 2025 "and found that the vast majority of payments on Lori Durbano's account" were made on the company's account. Sixty checks totaling more than $605,000 were made and the company later identified just two payments totaling more than $12,700 as legitimate, the charges allege.
The credit card payments were recorded as "carpenter expenses," materials, wages and salaries paid to the tax commission and payments to a lumber company.
In reality, investigators say nearly $600,000 worth of credit card charges "appeared to be personal in nature and were not consistent with ordinary and necessary business expenses of a construction company." Some of those expenses included more than $182,000 for travel, nearly $180,000 on shopping, nearly $87,000 for "home goods and maintenance," more than $71,000 for health care, more than $51,500 for "entertainment," and $34,000 on cosmetic expenses, according to the charging documents.
Investigators also found that authorized pay advances were not recorded on Durbano's tax filings.
"Lori Durbano has extensive experience with finances and should have known of her obligation to report all income on her tax returns," the charges say.
When questioned, Durbano said she asked her boss for a pay advance for her credit card and he agreed. "She claimed that they never discussed whether it was a one-time advance or an ongoing thing," the court documents state.
