ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Federal prosecutors are charging a St. Joseph County woman with defrauding her employer of more than half a million dollars.
This week the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged 53-year-old Kris Marie Fratzke with wire fraud and filing a false tax return for allegedly embezzling $540,000 from the Kalamazoo-based manufacturing firm Flare Fittings.
Fratzke is accused of creating a phony shell company called Mid American Fittings, then using the company to charge her employer for pipe manufacturing supplies by creating fake invoices.
A released statement by the attorney’s office says that Fratzke worked as Flare Fittings’ chief financial officer from 2013 until 2019.
Investigators believe she committed fraud by issuing around 235 checks to her shell company, with the embezzled funds going toward her personal bank account.
Prosecutors have also charged her with tax fraud after she failed to notify the income to the IRS.
She now faces a maximum possible jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison, paying back twice the stolen amount, and a possible restitution order.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that the investigation into the alleged fraud was carried out with assistance by the IRS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security.
