Embezzlement charges; former special needs school executive accused
CEDARBURG, Wis. - Trips to Hawaii and Moab. Home renovations. Hot tub repairs. A professionally installed basketball hoop. Thousands of dollars’ worth of online purchases. Prosecutors say all were paid for by Heather Wenthold. But not with her money.
The head of the Cedarburg Art Museum and former executive director and principal of a private non-profit school for children with special needs is charged with embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the school for her own use, including using school funds for furnishings at the art museum.
Heather Wenthold, 42, of Cedarburg was charged last week with three counts of embezzlement, ID theft, destruction of computer data and several counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. She was removed from her school position this past May, but is still an employee of the art museum.
Heather Wenthold
Wenthold made her first court appearance last week. She remains jailed on a $50,000 bond. She is due back in court next month.
Court documents say Wenthold has been employed by Sonnenberg Consultants since early 2019 and moved to Sonnenberg Schools when it opened in June of last year, and was in charge of the organization’s finances.
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Farrah Sonnenberg, the owner and CEO of Sonnenberg Consultants and Schools, told Racine County Sheriff investigators the suspicious transactions date back to when Wenthold started at the school. But it wasn’t until this year Sonnenberg became suspicious, when Wenthold allegedly offered to continue her role part-time, under contract, or leave altogether. It was at this time Sonnenberg learned from another school employee Wenthold was working full-time as the head of the Cedarburg Art Museum, and had only been physically in the school five times through April.
Sonnenberg Schools
In light of the charges, Tom Felmer, the president of the museum’s board of directors, told FOX6 Wenthold is currently on unpaid administrative leave. Felmer said CAM has and is conducting audits of its financial accounts and, to date, doesn’t see irregularities. Felmer said CAM is not commenting further on the matter, only that it’s focused on moving forward.
Messages left for Sonnenberg Schools and Sonnenberg, herself, and Wenthold’s attorney have gone unreturned.
Filings show Sonnenberg told investigators she could only access parts of the school’s finances, and discovered a PayPal account Wenthold used for the school was closed after she was confronted about it.
Sonnenberg said she later found Wenthold billed the school $5,000 for hot tub repairs, home repairs, home expenses, and furnishings. In total, Sonnenberg estimated it to be more than $100,000 in unapproved charges, bonuses and fraudulent reimbursements.
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Prosecutors say Wenthold fraudulently used a credit card in Sonnenberg’s name to make more than $33,000 in fraudulent purchases, more than $22,600 in PayPal transactions, and more than $25,000 in raises, bonuses and supposed reimbursements for herself between June 2022 and April 2023. Investigators say this doesn’t include all the items fraudulently purchased by Wenthold.
Tax filings for the school show Wenthold made $88,873 between June 2021 and June 2022. The same filing shows the school had $1.49 million in total revenue over that same time period.
The Ozaukee Press reported earlier this year Wenthold started as executive director of the Cedarburg Art Museum on Jan. 3. It’s unclear how much Wenthold is making in that position. However, a posting for the job opening last year listed the executive director salary ranging from $65,000 to $75,000, based on years of experience. According to the criminal complaint, when investigators executed a search warrant at the CAM, they found a computer, desk and other items in her office that were purchased with Sonnenberg Schools funds.
Wenthold’s bail jumping charges are related to a 2022 Ozaukee County misdemeanor disorderly conduct domestic abuse case. At the time of Wenthold’s arrest in this most recent case, she was under a deferred prosecution agreement and out on bond. She also has a misdemeanor conviction for passing bad checks in a 2017 Waukesha County case.
In May, Sonnenberg said she and the school board held a closed Zoom meeting regarding Wenthold’s proposed options for continued employment or separation. Sonnenberg said she wasn’t aware of Wenthold’s transactions at the time. Ultimately the board decided they would separate Wenthold from the school. Filings say in the minutes after Wenthold was notified, but before her computer privileges were terminated, she deleted more than 5,000 files.