25/05/2023
Wausau-area woman accused of stealing tens of thousands from local business
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By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
A 24-year-old woman is facing felony charges after allegedly admitting she stole tens of thousands of dollars from a Wausau-area business.
Lillianna Neumann, formerly of Hatley, will appear June 27 in Marathon County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing on charges of theft in a business setting between $10,000 and $100,000. The felony charge was filed April 13 and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
According to a criminal complaint Neumann, who now lists an Athens address, wrote checks from a family-owned company in Ringle to herself and to her own business, Kwik Performance Horses, totaling more than $46,000 over less than a three-month period. Neumann was authorized to write checks as part of her employment, but not to write checks to herself or her business, police said.
Neumann hired a local defense attorney and disclosed the thefts to a Marathon County Sheriff’s investigator in January. The owner of the company hired an accounting firm to perform a forensic audit of the organization’s finances.
A member of the family that owns the company said the thefts have had a devastating impact on the organization and has left the family feeling shocked and betrayed.
Online court records show Neumann has no prior criminal record. But on social media, Neumann has been accused by multiple people of defrauding clients while operating a photography business and as part of a dog breeding operation. Those allegations have sparked several pages that appear to show screen shots of conversations between Neumann and clients, but no formal charges have been filed, and online court records show Neumann sued one woman in 2021 who launched such a page. That case, filed in Lincoln County, was dismissed and the page remains online.
In the theft case, Neumann was summoned into court for an initial appearance. She was released on a $5,000 signature bond
