Melissa S. Wendt of Cambria has a long history of stealing from her employers.
She has stolen money from Planned Parenthood of Western New York, the City of Lockport and others.
Monday, Wendt pleaded guilty to stealing more than $195,000 from Audubon Machinery Corp., a North Tonawanda manufacturer of oxygen-generating equipment.
Wendt, 52, was working as corporate controller for Audubon at the time of the thefts, which began Dec. 27, 2018, and continued through Jan. 31, 2020, according to Niagara County Assistant District Attorney John N. Philipps.
Wendt gave herself an unauthorized pay raise and paid herself unauthorized overtime and expense reimbursements, besides writing checks to herself, Philipps said.
It will result in a mandatory state prison sentence for Wendt, 52, because she is a repeat felon.
People are also reading…
The Cambria woman committed her past crimes under her married name, Melissa Kwoka. She was divorced in 2015, public records show.
LOCKPORT – Melissa S. Kwoka, the former accountant for Planned Parenthood of Western New York who embezzled more than $100,000 from the organization, was sentenced Friday to one to three years in state prison for failing to pay the money back. Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon chose a prison term for Kwoka, 46, of Corinthia Street, Lockport, who admitted
That was the same year she was sentenced to one to three years in state prison because she violated the terms of her probation on a 2013 Erie County conviction for stealing $102,733 while she was working as an accountant at Planned Parenthood.
The thefts were committed by forging 15 checks to herself and her husband from August 2012 through March 2013, The Buffalo News reported at the time.
The original sentence in that second-degree grand larceny case was five years of probation, beginning with six months of local jail time. But Wendt violated probation by failing to pay the money back.
While she was free on bail awaiting her original sentencing in 2013, Wendt admitted to stealing $520 from a friend’s bank account so she could make a car payment, Lockport police said at the time.
In May 2002, she was fired from her job as a secretary for the City of Lockport Building Inspection Department for stealing $212 from the office. She was suspected of other thefts and ended up with a sentence of one year on probation and $700 in restitution.
Melissa S. Kwoka, the city secretary who pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted petit larceny in the theft of money from the Building Inspection Department, was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation by City Judge David R. Wendt. Wendt also ordered Kwoka to pay $700 in restitution, perform five days of outdoor work in the city’s Community
Audubon hired Wendt as a receptionist, said Timothy Blach, the company's president and chief financial officer. After it found out about her past, the firm decided to give her a chance.
Blach was the corporate controller at the time, but he left the business for a while and his assistant took over as controller. Wendt then moved into the accounting department and became controller after Blach's successor left.
"At the time, the company had no revenue so they didn't have enough revenue to have a full staff. She was pretty much the whole show," Blach said.
The thefts of more than $195,000 were a blow to the company "to say the least," Blach said. "It obviously slowed the purchasing of raw materials when $200,000 goes missing. It went missing over a period of time."
The company, founded in 1995, currently employs 37 people, Blach said.
When Wendt is sentenced for fourth-degree grand larceny Dec. 2 by State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., a restitution order will be part of the sentence, along with a prison term of 1½ to three years, according to defense attorney P. Andrew Vona.
Vona declined to comment on what Wendt did with the stolen money.
He, Blach and Philipps all said Wendt has not repaid any of the money so far.
"Personally, I'm not optimistic at all that we'll see any of the money," Blach said.
