Forgery charges were dismissed against Florida woman Stephanie
Cramer at a preliminary hearing Monday, but District Judge Dominic
Cercone bound to court charges of theft of more than $300,000.

During the hearing for Cramer, 41, formerly of 296 Congress St.,
her former employers Randall Hall and John Kohler testified that
Cramer was originally thought to have taken as much as
$460,000.

However, since an investigation into her activities began in
January, it has been discovered that Cramer may have been entitled
to some of that money by way of health insurance coverage and a
holiday bonus.

The total amount she is accused of taking from the two was not
clearly established at Monday’s hearing.

The first to testify at the hearing was Hall, who lives in St.
Petersburg, Fla., and is an owner/operator of Orchard Apartments
Inc. The company employed Cramer for 10 years managing the office
and the property.

Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Scott Klein,
Hall explained that it had been brought to his attention that
Cramer was writing out checks to herself above her payroll amount
and using his rubber stamp signature to sign them.

He said he had gone over the account with a representative of
County National Bank and had been given copies of checks on the
corporate account from 2002 through 2005. During that time, she
also used the Orchard Apartments account to pay her personal
property taxes, Hall said.

Hall also testified that Cramer had “forged a form to authorize
taking funds from a Vanguard, a money market account.” The account
had been at about $142,000, but the balance was zero when Hall
checked it in 2005.

Cramer’s attorney, Donna Smith, asked Hall under
cross-examination, “isn’t it true you asked Stephanie to close the
Vanguard account?”

“No,” he said vehemently.

Klein went through the list of years where Hall had discovered
checks Cramer had written unauthorized checks, asking Hall to name
the total amount for each year.

In 2002, it was $14,566.17; in 2003, $13,539.86; in 2004,
$29,070.73; and in 2005, $37,508.34, Hall said.

“They were all stamped by my signature,” he said.

There were also checks written to Cramer’s husband Gary, who,
Hall said under questioning from Smith, was an occasional employee
of Orchard Apartments performing maintenance work. However, Hall
said, there were no receipts or work orders to prove that the
checks were for work Gary Cramer had performed.

Klein had alleged that Cramer endorsed the checks and cashed
them without her husband’s permission, but presented no evidence
during the hearing to support that claim. Smith requested that
Cercone dismiss the forgery charges based on those allegations. He
agreed.

Hall had also testified to unauthorized charges made on a Home
Depot charge account, which he discovered from viewing the billing
statements.

“I was basing the amount by the fact that we (Orchard
Apartments) don’t have a need for lumber, washer and dryers … and
it showed a freezer,” Hall said. There was one other person
authorized to use the account, but he was interviewed and not
suspected of making the purchases, Hall said.

The last piece of evidence Klein introduced was a group of
checks that Cramer had written on the Orchard Apartments account to
John Kohler Rentals. The amounts totaled $56,799.35.

“Did you ever confront her?” Klein asked Hall.

Hall said that he and John Kohler both did, and “she admitted
she had taken some money … and charged some items at Home
Depot.”

Kohler also testified. He explained Cramer had been in his
employ as an office manager and performing accounting and bill
paying.

“A lot of my income comes from my tenants in the form of cash,”
he said. “It never made it to my bank accounts.”

He explained that he investigated the matter himself and
determined that cash deposits should have been between $5,000 and
$8,000 every month, but were frequently $1,500 or less.

His calculations showed that Cramer may have taken $156,000 over
three years, he said. Cramer had also made checks out to herself
without authorization, Kohler said.

“Were there occasions when she had purchase office supplies with
her own funds?” Smith asked Kohler.

“I don’t know why she’d do that,” he said. He added that he had
no receipts to show that she had.

Smith also asked if Kohler authorized Cramer to write herself a
check for a Christmas bonus. He said that he had.

Smith asked if there was any way to distinguish what checks may
have been written for reimbursement for office supplies Cramer
purchased, payroll checks and bonuses.

“This is a rough estimate,” Kohler said. “We need a forensic
accountant to look at this stuff.”

The charges against her are several counts of theft and
receiving stolen property, and one count of access device
fraud.

After the hearing was completed, Smith made a motion to reduce
Cramer’s bail.

She was being held in McKean County Prison on $10,000 straight
bail on one set of charges, $50,000 straight bail on another set,
and $50,000 unsecured on a third set of charges.

Cercone changed the bail to $10,000 straight, $25,000 straight,
and $50,000 unsecured. Cramer was returned to jail in lieu of
bail.