BELLEVILLE — The owners of a Belleville auto dealership are suing their former bookkeeper who admitted to stealing funds from the company's bank accounts.
Brad Joseph, Lynn Joseph, Whitney Reapor and Carolyn Edithal filed a complaint March 26 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Brenda Tourville, alleging fraud.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, Tourville worked at the Oliver C. Joseph (OCJ) auto dealership and was responsible for receiving payments for car sales, service and parts. Those funds were then deposited into bank accounts and used for paying the company's expenses. The plaintiffs allege that Tourville had access to OCJ's Ally Bank account and other ancillary accounts. They claim she removed funds from the ancillary accounts into the main OCJ account without permission. The plaintiffs further allege that Tourville attempted to keep access to the accounts to only herself and only "verbally advised" them of the balances on the account. They claim that on June 25, 2019, Tourville informed them that she had been transferring their money and that she had spent the money and had none in her possession. She was terminated on June 28, 2019.
The plaintiffs seek compensation of more than $50,000 and all other just relief. They are represented by Donald Schoemaker of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC in Swansea.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 21-L-0295