Mar. 1—EAU CLAIRE — The former manager of the Subway restaurant located in the Eau Claire Walmart store has pleaded guilty of stealing at least $87,000 in cash deposits from the business over an 18-month period.

Lori L. Burich, 49, 1307 Water St., Chippewa Falls, entered the plea Tuesday in Eau Claire County Court to felony and misdemeanor counts of theft in a business setting.

Burich was fined $443 for the misdemeanor charge.

As part of an eight-year deferred agreement with prosecutors, the felony charge will be dismissed if Burich pays a $300 fine, commits no new crimes and pays $87,000 in restitution at a rate of $750 a month. She must also have no contact with any Subway restaurant and not be employed in a job or volunteer capacity where duties include handling of finances. She may work as a cashier if her employer is made aware of this court case.

According to the criminal complaint:

The owners of the Walmart Subway restaurant at 3915 Gateway Drive contacted police Jan. 13, 2022, after their accounting firm advised that a large number of the restaurant's cash deposits were never deposited in the bank in 2021.

According to an initial review of their business account from Jan. 21 to May 21 in 2021, more than $30,000 in cash deposits were never made.

The owners said Burich was the manager of the Walmart Subway during this period of time.

They said Burich was normally responsible for making the cash deposits but the deposit books that record those deposits were missing.

The owners confronted Burich about the missing cash deposits. They said Burich admitted she never made the deposits and kept the cash.

Burich also admitted to the owners she threw away all of the deposit books. The owners said Burich signed a written statement admitting to these actions.

The owners told police that when a restaurant cash register contained too much money, employees would remove the cash from the register and deposit it in a slot in the safe, which was located inside the restaurant.

At the end of the day, the owners said, their computer system would create a spreadsheet of how much money was made that particular day.

Burich had access to the safe where the cash deposits were placed and had the responsibility to go to the bank and deposit the money on a daily basis. The owners said the vast majority of these deposits would have been handled by Burich, but there were occasions when another manager would make the deposits.

The owners determined that from Dec. 20, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021, more than $82,000 in cash deposits were never made. Burich told the owners she didn't steal anywhere near that amount of money.

The owners provided police with the Jan. 13, 2022, signed statement from Burich admitting she kept deposits as well as an additional notarized statement from Burich from Jan. 21, 2022, in which she agreed to pay back all of the missing cash deposits.

Two other managers also made some cash deposits. But the owners said they had no problems with the cash deposits until Burich started making them. The other two managers were interviewed by police and denied taking any money from the business.

A thorough review of the restaurant's financial records showed that there was a total of $112,345 in missing cash deposits from July 2, 2020, through Jan. 2, 2022.

A review of Burich's personal bank account showed that $27,070 of cash was deposited into her account since June 2019. But nearly $22,000 of those deposits were made from the time of the first missing Walmart Subway cash deposits through January 2022.

There was also an increase in the frequency of cash deposits that were made into Burich's personal account after the Subway deposits began missing.

Burich told authorities she signed the two statements the Subway owners gave to police because she did not want to have her life ruined and had no proof that she did not take the cash.

Burich told police she did not take $112,000. She said it wasn't even feasible for one person to take $100,000 in an 18-month period.