Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

October 31, 2008

Embezzler sentenced to prison

By ART BUKOWSKI

TRAVERSE CITY -- Clare Svec told a judge the theft of roughly $140,000 from his landscape supply company, discovered shortly before Christmas last year, profoundly impacted his life.

Beverly Jean Ferguson, Svec's longtime bookkeeper at Blue Star Landscape Supply in Garfield Township, eventually was arrested for the crime. Svec described Ferguson as someone he trusted, and the theft proved to be an "unbelievable blow," he said.

"It's affected my health, it's affected my employees, my customers, my family, my friends," he said. "Everybody around me, it's affected. It's a great little business I have out there, and it's a shame that you work so hard and you have to go through this."

Thirteenth Circuit Judge Thomas G. Power sentenced Ferguson, 44, to a minimum of 18 months in prison Friday on one count of embezzlement of more than $20,000 and two counts of fraudulent use of a financial transaction device.

She's also ordered to pay about $141,000 in restitution, Grand Traverse Prosecutor Alan Schneider said.

Ferguson pleaded guilty in September. Several additional embezzlement, forgery and uttering and publishing counts were dismissed. She spent the stolen money on trips, restaurants, car repairs and other personal items, court records show. Svec initially noticed financial discrepancies in December 2007 when Ferguson was on vacation, according to a police report. He noticed a series of purchases on a company debit card he never authorized, and an ensuing police investigation uncovered thousands of dollars in forged checks and unauthorized debit and gas card purchases dating to 2005.

Ferguson was on vacation at Walt Disney World when Svec began to probe the theft, and he eventually found that even her campsite at the resort was paid for with company dollars, according to the report.

"I never meant to hurt Mr. Svec and his family," Ferguson told the judge. "I will pay every penny of that back."

Her attorney, James Hunt, requested probation. He told Power that Ferguson hadn't been in trouble before but "put herself in a terrible position." Power said it's common for embezzlers to have no criminal history, and said he ordered prison time because of the magnitude of the theft.

"For most people that would be a blow that there might never be financial recovery from," he said.

Svec declined comment after the sentencing.

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