EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire woman charged with stealing more than $60,000 was back in court Thursday for the first time since she missed a hearing in January.
Diane Pederson-Cloud, 55, is charged with theft in a business setting with a value of between $10,000 and $100,000. She has pleaded not guilty.
According to court records, Pederson-Cloud missed a hearing Jan. 16, which led the court to issue a bench warrant for her arrest. The online court file notes that “the defendant is notorious for showing up late for court.”
But in that case her attorney didn’t know why she wasn’t in court. The next entry is from Thursday: a return on warrant proceeding.
According to the criminal complaint, police were contacted when an account holder’s guardian noticed major discrepancies in what was in the account versus what was expected. In February 2021 the victim received a deposit of about $65,000. By May the account had only $700 in it, and the victim had been hospitalized for much of the intervening period.
Records showed numerous withdrawals from ATMs, at bars, casinos and through wire transfers. The complaint said investigators reviewing the records found “an extreme number of cash withdrawals and transfers.”
Multiple withdrawals topping $1,000 each account for more than $26,600 of the total missing funds. Another $14,000 was withdrawn from various ATMs.
Records on some of the transactions linked them to Pederson-Cloud. She has pleaded not guilty.
Pederson-Cloud has an extensive history with Wisconsin courts, including a 2009 conviction for OWI-5. A significant number of the cases are for bail jumping, a charge often filed for infractions of a person’s conditions of release while another case is pending.
A status conference is scheduled for Aug. 5.
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