Woman Charged In Connection With Forged Business Payments

FRANKLIN, WI — A Franklin business owner told police his business's secretary made over a hundred unauthorized credit card transactions and forged dozens of checks totaling over $34,000, according to a criminal complaint filed Oct. 7.

Tiffany M Urban of Milwaukee, 50, was charged in connection with the unauthorized and forged payments. According to the criminal complaint, the payments took place between August 2018 and April 2020. The business is located at 7500 S. North Cape Road in Franklin.

Urban was responsible for office work including payroll and paying bills, the business owner told police, according to the criminal complaint. She had been a secretary since 2016.

According to the criminal complaint, Urban regularly had access to large sums of the business's money through credit cards and bank checks. The business owner told Franklin Police that over 100 unauthorized credit card transactions were made and that 27 checks made out to T and J Inc., JHC Enterprises or Urban herself contained forged signatures, the complaint said.

Multiple checks written to those names were deposited into the same bank account, the complaint said. The business owner also told police he found a business card in Urban's desk for JHC Enterprises — a business owned by John Urban, the defendant's brother, the complaint said.

"The checks were written from JPP’s (the business owner's) business checking account and he did not give consent to the above-unauthorized checks to be written or for his name to be written on the check," the criminal complaint said.

Police interviewed Urban but she denied writing the checks. Urban said T and J Inc. was an account where the business owner instructed her to hold money for side job payments. Police said in the complaint that Urban admitted to keeping some of the money when she got behind on bills.

The business owner told police Urban was the only person who had access to the credit card used for over 100 unauthorized payments, the complaint said.

Urban faces charges of theft - business setting ($10,000-$100,000) and forgery. If convicted, Urban could face up to 16 years in prison, the criminal complaint said.