Colorado Erotic Publisher Accused Of Stealing From Clients

A woman from Johnstown who publishes romance novels stole money from her writers, according to an indictment announced by the Greeley County District Attorney. Jana Koretko is accused of more than one dozen crimes including theft, tax evasion, computer crimes, and money laundering.

The district attorney's office says that Koretko owns JK Publishing, which published romances and erotica.

She allegedly stole $125,000 from several clients over a two-year period.

Investigators say they were notified of the scheme in August 2015 when one of Koretko's writers noticed discrepancies in her royalty statements. (For more information on this and other local stories, subscribe to your local Patch for breaking news alerts.)

Officials say that they learned Koretko was manipulating the monthly and quarterly sales reports from E-book retailers, like Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble and Kobo, to indicate lower sales.

In some instances, she even allegedly inflated or exaggerated book sales to make the authors believe the novels were doing well or becoming bestsellers.

Over the course of the investigation, 15 authors were identified as victims in Koretko’s alleged scam, according to the district attorney's office.

They say that it was also determined she under-reported book sales by more than 10,000 books, resulting in more than $125,000 in royalty losses to her clients.

Officials say that she's also charged with falsifying her income on a tax return and not filing returns for two consecutive years.

She will be in court on July 7.

Photo courtesy Weld County District Attorney