Alcester woman charged with wire fraud

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - A US Attorney announced on Saturday that a grand jury had indicted a Union County woman on ten counts of wire fraud.

According to a press release from the South Dakota district of the United States Attorney’s Office, 56-year-old Michelle Warner of Alcester appeared before a US Magistrate Judge on Thursday and pleaded not guilty.

The indictment alleges between June of 2018 and May of 2023, Warner, who was working as a bookkeeper and later a business administrator, fraudulently paid herself extra unauthorized payroll payments for personal use and caused her employer to remit payroll tax to the IRS on her behalf. Warner is also accused of using her employer’s credit card without authorization.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, US Attorney’s Office, Union County Sheriff’s Office and South Sioux City Police Department.

The maximum penalty if convicted is 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and up to $1,000 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Warner was released on bond and a trial date has not been set.