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Ex-manager accused of stealing

She is charged with a scheme to defraud after an audit reveals missing funds were from her employer's account.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published December 1, 2005

DUNEDIN - A former office manager at Tardif Electric Inc. was charged with stealing more than $24,000 from the company since February, the Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

Peggy R. Knupke, 50, of Clearwater was having financial problems and began paying her creditors with company checks, said Sgt. Jim Bordner, a sheriff's spokesman. Knupke, who was hired in April 2004, managed the office alone for the electrical wiring business at 1340 Ridge Blvd.

The thefts began in February, when Knupke doctored paperwork to the company's payroll service to give herself a $100-a-week raise, Bordner said. Later that month, she began paying her credit card debt from the business' coffers.

The thefts continued through August, Bordner said. Knupke was fired in September for "poor work performance," and an audit after she left uncovered the embezzlement, said David Tardif, the company's co-owner.

"I never did suspect it," Tardif said. "It was a one-person office. She ran the whole thing."

Knupke admitted stealing the money when sheriff's detectives arrested her Tuesday, Bordner said. She was charged with a scheme to defraud and was released from Pinellas County Jail after posting $5,000 bail.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Knupke declined to answer questions about the charge, saying only, "It is incorrect information."

Records show she has no previous criminal record in Pinellas County.

[Last modified December 1, 2005, 01:07:16]