A former accountant for Viacom Inc.-owned WBBM-TV Chicago was taken into
police custody Tuesday and will face criminal charges that she diverted station funds
into her own accounts, according to informed sources.
The station will also bring civil charges against Deoborah Fogarty,
Broadcasting & Cable was told, for allegedly misappropriating approximately $1.8 million in
station money.
Fogarty had been terminated from the station earlier this year on unrelated
matters, but when suspicions arose involving funds paid into accounts that were
no longer active, the station referred the matter to local authorities, who
investigated, sources told B&C.
Fogarty and her husband, Tim, were arrested in their Orland Park, Ill., home.
Prosecutors said they will be charged with theft by deception and money laundering.
Both are due to appear Wednesday in court.
The class-1 felonies are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the thefts occurred between January 1997 and this past March, when she left the station.
