Muskego Man Used Side Business to Steal More Than $200k From New Berlin Employer

MUSKEGO -- A former Racine resident currently living in Muskego faces nearly 200 years imprisonment after police say he stole more than $200,000 from his employer by creating a phony vendor account for the subcontractor business he owned on the side.

Jason W. Matthews has been charged with 19 counts of felony retail theft and one count of felony identity theft after police say he issued 103 fraudulent checks totaling $232,583.55 to Racine-based JMJ Exteriors, LLC - a business he owned - from the checking account his former employer Associated Materials, LLC/Alside Supply Center in New Berlin.

According to the complaint, Matthews fraudulently set up JMJ Exeriors with a vendor account at his employer by stealing the identity of an existing subcontractor, and telling accounts payable that the existing subcontractor added a second business, his criminal complaint said.

By using the existing contractor's identity, police say Matthews was able to run all paperwork and insurance through accounts payable and OSHA to pose his business as a vendor which could receive payments from Associated Materials LLC/Alside Supply Center.

According to his complaint, a regional manager with Associated Materials checked the status of several projects during a routine training session, only to find out that numerous payments were made to subcontractor JMJ Exteriors, however no supporting invoices were not located.

When the regional manager located JMJ Exteriors in the company's computer system, he learned it was the largest-volume contractor at his company - yet none of the other employees had ever heard of the company, the criminal complaint said.

When police investigated the case, they learned that Matthews cashed 103 checks at area U.S. Bank locations, indicating that Matthews deposited the fraudulent checks into the JMJ Exteriors, LLC U.S. Bank account with dates and check amounts matching official bank records.

According to the criminal complaint, Matthews began making the fraudulent checks in September 2011, and concluded in March 2014.

A summons and complaint had been filed against Matthews on July 5. He has been ordered into court for an initial appearance on August 22.