The farm manager at a local charity has been indicted after allegedly stealing from the nonprofit.
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Janet K. Bland, also known as Janet Jones and Janet Luzander, 59, of 16730 Martin-Welch Road, Marysville. Bland is charged with two counts of forgery and one count each of telecommunications fraud, money laundering and grand theft.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said that between September 2016 and February 2018, Bland served as the volunteer farm manager for Sunrise Sanctuary. She also lived at the farm.
According to its website, Sunrise Sanctuary is a non-profit organization that rescues and cares for farmed and companion animals who were abandoned, abused or neglected.
Phillips said it was Bland’s job was to “tend to the animals and take care of the bank accounts.”
Phillips said Bland allegedly took several checks from the Sunrise Sanctuary account and wrote them to herself. Additionally, Bland allegedly created a business, CH Consulting. Bland had Sunrise Sanctuary make payments, by PayPal, to the business.
“If anyone asked about it, she told people they had an arrangement, a contract with that group,” Phillips said.
Once the payments were made, the money was allegedly moved from the CH Consulting account to Bland’s personal account.
According to court documents, over 18 months, Bland stole more than $9,700 from the charity.
Phillips said Bland allegedly used the phone and the computer to defraud the charity. He said that’s why the telecommunications fraud charge was included.
He also explained that money laundering is any scheme to “make illicit funds appear legitimate.” The prosecutor said that by running the money through PayPal into a fictitious company’s account then back out, she was trying to hide the funds.
Phillips said it is “not infrequent” that an employee steals from a company. He said he sees it often.
“It is certainly not their fault, it is simply that a lot of small businesses and other organizations do not have the means to monitor for internal theft,” Phillips said.
He said that in the past he has conducted training programs for businesses and organizations. Phillips said it has been a while since the last training, but he would likely try to schedule another.
“We would encourage small businesses to make sure there are checks and balances to make sure they don’t have that internal theft,” Phillips said.
If convicted on all counts, Bland could face more than 13 years in prison.
Also indicted was:
– Jeremy Lynn Larrick, 46, of 323 S. Walnut St. Marysville. Larrick is charged with one count each of breaking and entering, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and safecracking, stemming from a May 2018 incident. If convicted on all counts, Larrick could face as many as 36 months in prison.
– William Wayne Hammond, 46, whose court-listed address is the Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg. Hammond is charged with one count of forgery. According to court documents, on Dec. 10, Hammond attempted to use forged money at a local department store. If convicted, Hammond could face as many as 12 months in prison.
– John Wayne Rowe, 47, of Columbus. Rowe is charged with one count of burglary stemming from a Feb. 9 incident. If convicted, Rowe could face as many as eight years in prison.
– Joanice N. Sharp, 33, whose court-listed address is the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Sharp is charged with one count of illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto grounds of a specified governmental facility. Sharp is serving a 30-month sentence at the reformatory for convictions of drug trafficking and forgery. According to court documents, on June 24 Sharp allegedly attempted to bring a drug of abuse into the prison. Sharp is set to be released in June, but could face an additional five years in prison if convicted.