A 43-year old Amery, Wisconsin woman was sentenced February 15 to 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud.
The United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, Timothy M. O’Shea announced that Chief U. S. District Judge James D. Peterson imposed the 18-month sentence on Sarah Anne Tischer.
Tischer pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud on November 4, 2022. Her term of imprisonment is to be followed by a three-year period of supervised release. Judge Peterson also ordered Tischer to pay $526,416 in restitution.
In June 2017, Tischer established a special needs trust for a beneficiary who suffered from severe medical and development disabilities. As trustee, Tischer had full discretion to make payments from the trust on behalf of the beneficiary. Tischer regularly withdrew money from the investment account and deposited the funds into various bank accounts. Once in these accounts, Tischer spent the money and documented the expenditures in the trust’s ledger.
In January 2020, bank employees notified the Polk County Human Services Department that someone was spending money from the special needs trust at a casino in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. Based on this complaint, Polk County officials held an injunction hearing that resulted in Tischer being removed as trustee.
Following this hearing, the FBI opened a criminal investigation and examined the trust’s financial records. At the end of the review, an FBI forensic accountant determined that Tischer fraudulently withdrew $526,413 from the special needs trust and spent the money at casinos, on personal items, and on home improvement projects. Tischer also forged numerous ledger entries in an effort to avoid detection.
