Ex-office manager sentenced for embezzling $1M

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The former office manager of a Milwaukee-area talent agency has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $1 million to cover gambling losses.

The Journal Sentinel reports 56-year-old Yvonne Dikiara of Wauwatosa also was ordered Thursday to pay just more than $1 million in restitution.

Dikiara was office manager of Talent Associates in Brookfield and later in Menomonee Falls. The agency places musicians and other artists in shows throughout the Midwest.

According to court documents, from 1986 to 2012 Dikiara handled the firm’s books and records. According to the documents, in 1998 she began losing money playing slot machines at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.

Court records say to cover her losses, Dikiara wrote checks to herself, using phony vendor names and forging the company president’s name.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com