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Woman guilty of taking company funds

Stepmom used money for plastic surgery, tanning bed

EBENSBURG — A Northern Cambria woman was found guilty Tuesday of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a company she jointly owned with her stepson.

In a nonjury trial, Cambria County Judge David Tulowitzki found Janine Whiteford, 56, guilty of felony theft by unlawful taking for using company funds to cover personal expenses.

He ruled she was not guilty of theft by deception.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed charges against Whiteford last year claiming she forged ledger entries for checks written out to herself for cash and used company money for expenses that were not business-related.

Whiteford was part owner of Whiteford and Son Inc., a trucking company founded by her late husband, Bernard Whiteford, and owned jointly with his son, James Whiteford.

When Bernard died in July 2012, James became a 51 percent shareholder of the company and Janine owned 49 percent.

The family also ran Whiteford Stone and Supply Inc. with Janine listed as the sole owner. That company has since closed.

Auditor Stephanie Stohon of Wessel & Co. — hired initially by James Whiteford but whose work was included in the state’s investigation — testified that the family’s businesses suffered a total loss of about $67,000 over the last several years.

Stohon said she also will testify in a related civil case that the loss, when including records going back to at least 2008, totals close to $300,000.

Prosecutor Todd Goodwin of the Attorney General’s Office argued that Janine took advantage of her part ownership of Whiteford and Son to pay for expenses that should have been shared equally with her company or covered by her salary.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Miller disagreed, saying his client was guilty of poor record keeping but said the case was the result of a family dispute after Bernard’s death.

Miller said the Whitefords had a history of using a company credit card for personal expenses — including charges made by Bernard to cover parts for his race car and gifts for his son and grandson. He also said other family members had asked for checks written out to cash that they used for their own purchases.

“Can we agree that all improper accounting is not theft,” Miller asked.

Miller said the practice was accepted by everyone working for both companies until Bernard died, when the relationship between Janine and James became tense.

According to Janine, James approached her a few months after her husband’s death to ask for sole ownership of Whiteford and Son and part ownership of a garage and company property.

Janine testified that she met with an attorney who advised her against the sale, which led to a fight with James and a separation of the two companies that had always worked together and shared both expenses and revenues when needed.

“He actually told me that if I’d signed everything over, we wouldn’t be here,” she said.

Goodwin disagreed that Janine’s actions reflected common business practices.

He said it wasn’t until after her husband’s death that she began to rely more heavily on Whiteford and Sons funds to cover business expenses for both companies and to make personal purchases including about $7,000 for plastic surgery, $4,900 for a tanning bed and charges for lingerie, credit card payments and pool supplies.

Goodwin said she also forged ledger entries to show checks for tires or fuel when she had, in fact, made them out to herself for cash.

“You’re defrauding the IRS,” Goodwin said. “You could have written in the ledger to show what the checks actually were for, but you chose not to.”

Tulowitzki scheduled sentencing for 9 a.m. Dec. 21.

James Whiteford, who still runs Whiteford and Son, said after the trial that he was pleased with the outcome and believed justice was served.

Mirror Staff Writer Kelly Cernetich Brown is at 946-7520.

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