PORT CARBON - A man and woman were arrested and charged with stealing money for more than four years while working for Boardman Brothers Motor Car Co. in East Norwegian Township.
Larry M. Sweigert, 51, of 750 Trail Lane, Enola, is charged with stealing more than $120,000 between May 2005 and April 2009 while employed as a general manager.
Sandra Lee Eggers, 55, also of 750 Trail Lane, Enola, was hired by Sweigert to work at the dealership while the two lived together and is charged with taking $4,900 on April 27, 2009.
State police Trooper Robert Kluge of the Schuylkill Haven station charged Sweigert and Eggers with two felony counts each of receiving stolen property, theft and failure to make required disposition of funds received.
Both were arraigned by Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon.
Sweigert, who was arraigned Monday, was initially committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $50,000 bail but was later released after posting the bond.
Eggers was released at the time of her arraignment Wednesday on 10 percent of $5,000 bail.
Kluge said Sweigert was hired as general manager when the business opened in 2004 and in 2008, he hired Eggers as a secretary.
Kluge said the thefts came to light in 2009 when Robert Boardman began to question why his company was not making any money and why bill collectors were calling about unpaid invoices.
The trooper said Boardman began looking at old transactions and found discrepancies with cash transactions from customers where not all the cash from sales were being deposited into the proper accounts.
Kluge said the investigation determined that on more than 20 occasions, Sweigert received cash from customers and failed to deposit the full amount in Boardman Brothers accounts, wrote a check in the amount of $2,000 to "cash money" and wrote a check in the amount of $3,627 to himself "for taxes loan + 267 exp." That check, Kluge said, was not authorized by the dealership.
The total amount of money taken by Sweigert was $124,059.94.
In the case involving Eggers, Kluge said the woman made a deposit for three vehicles totaling $18,285.50, but the amount that actually should have been remitted was $23,185.50, leaving a shortage of $4,900.
Both Sweigert and Eggers will now have to appear for preliminary hearings before Plachko in his Port Carbon courtroom.