Christina Michele Bratcher (43), a bookkeeper from Colorado Springs, has been charged with felony theft following accusations that she skimmed almost $500 000 from her employer of the past seven years.
Bratcher’s actions allegedly bankrupted the mother-son owned welding supply business.
The thefts were discovered as the company prepared for a bankruptcy sale in 2010 when investigators tracked missing funds to a number of “large payments” made to an unidentified online gambling website, reports the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Bratcher will be back in court on November 22, 2011 to face charges.