Emico Media accuses its former bookkeeper, Karen Norman, of embezzling. (Stock image)
A small Denver marketing firm claims that an audit has revealed its longtime bookkeeper clandestinely made herself an employee and then siphoned off nearly $1 million.
Emico Media was founded in 2009 by Caroline Watson and Erin Hauser, according to its website, and is run out of Watson’s home. It handles media planning and buying.
In 2010, Emico hired bookkeeper Karen Norman after a background check found no reason not to, Emico says. Within a few years, Norman, who was an independent contractor rather than an employee, “became indispensable to Emico’s financial operations,” the firm said.
Norman was making $95,000 per year at Emico when she put in two weeks’ notice last December, according to a lawsuit that company filed June 27. But within a few weeks of her leaving, the company learned she was making much more money, it alleges.
In January, Watson was looking through company documents when she came across employee tax forms for Norman, who Emico had never hired as an employee. Then, Hauser found a payroll register that included a strange reimbursement to Norman, Emico said.
“At this moment in time, Erin Hauser grew suspicious that Karen Norman may have betrayed the trust placed in her by the company’s owners,” according to last week’s lawsuit.
An accountant was hired to audit the books at Emico. It said the results were alarming.
Norman had been paying herself an extra $1,000 per month since mid-2020, moved $925,000 from the company’s bank account to her own between 2021 and 2023, and disguised those payments on Emico’s accounting software to “cover her tracks,” the firm alleges.
“Falsification of QuickBook entries allowed her to cover up her theft from Emico’s owners over the several years Norman executed her embezzlement scheme,” its lawsuit said. “ … This intentional falsification by Norman occurred for every pay period from 2021-2023.”
In one instance, Emico said it was able to uncover a fraudulent payment because it had supposedly been made in 2021 to a company that closed in 2020. Emico is suing its former bookkeeper for theft, fraud and breach of contract, among other claims. It believes the total amount of money that Norman stole between 2020 and 2023 is $941,642.
The company is represented by Michael Melito with Melito Law in Denver. He and the company’s founders, Watson and Hauser, did not answer interview requests.
Reached by phone last week, Norman said she was unaware of the lawsuit and asked a reporter to send it to her. After he did, Norman stopped answering phone calls.
Emico Media accuses its former bookkeeper, Karen Norman, of embezzling. (Stock image)
A small Denver marketing firm claims that an audit has revealed its longtime bookkeeper clandestinely made herself an employee and then siphoned off nearly $1 million.
Emico Media was founded in 2009 by Caroline Watson and Erin Hauser, according to its website, and is run out of Watson’s home. It handles media planning and buying.
In 2010, Emico hired bookkeeper Karen Norman after a background check found no reason not to, Emico says. Within a few years, Norman, who was an independent contractor rather than an employee, “became indispensable to Emico’s financial operations,” the firm said.
Norman was making $95,000 per year at Emico when she put in two weeks’ notice last December, according to a lawsuit that company filed June 27. But within a few weeks of her leaving, the company learned she was making much more money, it alleges.
In January, Watson was looking through company documents when she came across employee tax forms for Norman, who Emico had never hired as an employee. Then, Hauser found a payroll register that included a strange reimbursement to Norman, Emico said.
“At this moment in time, Erin Hauser grew suspicious that Karen Norman may have betrayed the trust placed in her by the company’s owners,” according to last week’s lawsuit.
An accountant was hired to audit the books at Emico. It said the results were alarming.
Norman had been paying herself an extra $1,000 per month since mid-2020, moved $925,000 from the company’s bank account to her own between 2021 and 2023, and disguised those payments on Emico’s accounting software to “cover her tracks,” the firm alleges.
“Falsification of QuickBook entries allowed her to cover up her theft from Emico’s owners over the several years Norman executed her embezzlement scheme,” its lawsuit said. “ … This intentional falsification by Norman occurred for every pay period from 2021-2023.”
In one instance, Emico said it was able to uncover a fraudulent payment because it had supposedly been made in 2021 to a company that closed in 2020. Emico is suing its former bookkeeper for theft, fraud and breach of contract, among other claims. It believes the total amount of money that Norman stole between 2020 and 2023 is $941,642.
The company is represented by Michael Melito with Melito Law in Denver. He and the company’s founders, Watson and Hauser, did not answer interview requests.
Reached by phone last week, Norman said she was unaware of the lawsuit and asked a reporter to send it to her. After he did, Norman stopped answering phone calls.
