TALBOT COUNTY, Md.— An Easton woman was convicted this week of embezzling more than $335,000 from a former employer over the course of three years.
Talbot County State's Attorney Scott G. Patterson announced Friday that Katherine Haddaway was found guilty of 37 counts of fraudulently taking money totaling over $335,000 belonging to corporations owned by Wayne Hilmer and was convicted after an eight-day jury trial in the Talbot County Circuit Court charging her with theft, theft scheme and creating false documents.
During the trial, prosecutors said they introduced 345 exhibits establishing that between January 2008 and December 2010, Haddaway stole $302,321.87 from Easton Jet Services Inc., $33,998 from Omni Jet International Jet Trading Inc., and $3,500 from Four-Ten Holdings Corporation. All three corporations are located on Jet Lane at the Easton Airport
In court, Haddaway admitted receiving the money but said they had been gifts resulting from an ongoing personal relationship with Hilmer, who acknowledged the personal relationship but denied giving her the money. Prosecutors said the evidence and testimony elicited at trial showed that Haddaway used several different methods to obtain the money including forging checks, ordering extra payroll checks by direct deposit from Automatic Data Processing payroll company, and paying her credit card bill 270 times online using the company account.
Patterson said the case is an example of greed at its worst.
"The Office of the State's Attorney, in addition to our primary goal of keeping our communities safe, is also dedicated to the protection of our citizens' property," Patterson said. "This defendant's egregious and blatant thievery was one of the most blatant embezzlements we have experienced. The effort made and attention paid to this case was justified by the trial's outcome."
