A former employee at the Community Blood Center in Grand Chute faces numerous charges for allegedly stealing nearly a half-million dollars. Outagamie County prosecutors filed eight charges Wednesday against 49-year-old Tina Jacobsen of Neenah. Community Blood Center CEO Rick Hart said officials discovered the theft shortly after Jacobsen left the company in April. Jacobsen worked in the blood center’s finance department. Hart said they called Grand Chute police after they initially uncovered evidence that $171 thousand dollars was embezzled. “We continued our own investigation as to the types of transactions that occurred and found additional funds that were misappropriated,” said Hart. The total amount missing over a five year period was estimated at about $470,000.
Grand Chute police Lieutenant Jerome Martin said investigators found that Jacobsen was writing herself unauthorized checks. He said during a Wednesday press conference that Jacobson was not cooperating with investigators, but she was arrested later on Wednesday. Hart said most of the losses will be covered by the Blood Center’s insurance and will not affect the company’s operation. Records from Oneida Casino show that Jacobsen and her husband spent more than $400,000 there between 2008 and 2010.
Rick Schuh, WHBY