Former Neosho, Chenequa clerk accused theft, misconduct

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Deanna Braunschweig

DODGE COUNTY, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Justice said a former village clerk, who served two different communities, pocketed more than $280,000 of taxpayer money to pad her paycheck without any approval from supervisors.

In court:

Deanna Braunschweig, 54, is charged with two counts of theft and two counts of misconduct in office. Until last fall, she was the clerk-treasurer for the village of Neosho and the village of Chenequa.

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"She is facing significant prison exposure on these charges," said prosecutor Alex Orozco.

What's next:

A Dodge County court commissioner issued a $5,000 signature bond for Braunschweig. She will be back in court next month for a preliminary hearing.

Deanna Braunschweig

Neosho and Chenequa

Dig deeper:

The investigation started in October. Neosho’s village president walked down the street to Horicon Bank, and a manager there told him the village’s bank account was overdrawn by $6,000.

Village leaders started looking through bank statements and found Braunschweig had written hundreds of checks to herself totaling nearly $43,000.

Village of Neosho

Neosho held an emergency meeting on Oct. 1 to discuss the investigation, as well as utility bills that were past due. After the emergency meeting, the village manager said Braunschweig told him, "Before you behead me, I want you to give me a chance to make things right."

"Certainly, there are significant disputes of fact involved in this case – particularly whether or not Ms. Braunschweig was entitled to stipends," said defense attorney Murali Jasti.

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Braunschweig told investigators she was earning approximately $90,000 dollars per year between her salary and village stipend. But the Neosho village president told police she only earned $15,000 per year.

At the time, Braunschweig was also working as a clerk in the village of Chenequa. Special agents with the Wisconsin DOJ said Braunschweig paid a $3,500 Neosho dumpster bill with a village of Chenequa credit card.

Village of Chenequa

Braunschweig said she would sometimes use her personal credit cards to pay village bills when there wasn’t enough money from Neosho accounts to cover village expenses.

While Braunschweig said she was earning $90,000 per year in Neosho, an audit found she would have earned that much over the course of six years working for the village.