The District Attorney's office filed a criminal complaint Wednesday against five former employees at the Memorial Union's Stiftskeller for allegedly stealing a total of nearly $15,000 from cash registers.
In October, Union Food Service Manager Jim Long reported an ongoing Stiftskeller theft problem to University of Wisconsin Police Department. At the time, Long suspected a large number of employees had been stealing.
By the end of the month, Long narrowed the number of suspected employees to five bartenders who had the most void or no sale transactions from cash register records.
In December 2007, police investigators bought beer from Stiftskeller employee Adam Lisner with marked money. When police later confronted Lisner they discovered he had pocketed the marked cash. Lisner admitted to taking $150 from the register on a good night, according to the complaint.
Police also confronted employee Anthony Moore, who admitted to stealing money from the register.
You got me! I'm sick of trying to be deceptive. I'll tell you what you want to hear,"" Moore said, according to the complaint.
Moore told police skimming from the till is part of the ""culture"" of the Stiftskeller. He said it is common for Stiftskeller employees to hit the 'no sale' button on the register when they receive exact change and keep it as a tip.
""That is not just stealing from the Union, it's stealing from other students who pay fees to operate the Union,"" Director of the Wisconsin Union Mark Guthier said in a statement.
The other three employees charged in the criminal complaint are UW-Madison students Erik Kopperud, Katherine Lee and Daniel Ursin. Lisner is the only defendant who is not a student.
The defendants are charged with Class A Misdemeanors and if convicted at the maximum penalty may face fines of $10,000, imprisonment for nine months or both.
UWPD Officer Erik Pearce said he could not comment on if the police are investigating other employees.
The Union is working to implement new crime prevention strategies during employee training, according to UW Police Detective Anthony Curtis.
""Different courses will be given to those employees or future employees in regards to handling cash and customer service to try to prevent this from happening in the future,"" Curtis said.
