Stephanie Lacher—formerly Stephanie Roeglin—pled guilty in Milwaukee County Circuit Court earlier this year to
five felony counts of filing fraudulent Wisconsin income tax returns, one felony count of theft in a business
setting and one felony count of business identity theft.
According to the criminal complaint, Lacher was employed as director of payroll for a home health care company
in Glendale, Wisconsin. In this position, Lacher created a fake employee using her ex-husband’s Social Security
number and her employer’s IRS employer identification number.
Lacher had the paycheck for this fake employee directly deposited in her personal bank account. She also stole
from her employer by paying herself additional money as part of her regular paycheck.
Lacher’s schemes began in 2013 and continued until 2017 when her ex-spouse discovered he was assessed taxes
for a job at the home health care company that employed Lacher—a place her ex-spouse never worked.
From 2013 to 2017, Lacher embezzled $476,540 from her employer. Because she did not pay state income taxes
on the income paid to the fake employee, she owes back taxes, interest and penalties to the Wisconsin
Department of Revenue.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Joseph R. Wall sentenced Lacher on April 15, 2021, to two years in prison
followed by eight years extended supervision. Lacher’s prison time for the filing fraudulent income tax return
charges will be served concurrently with the theft in a business setting and business identity theft charges.
