Brown County

District Court

• Caroline S. Kurowski, 65, 519 S. Franklin, New Ulm, was charged with felony theft Friday. According to court documents, New Ulm Police were dispatched to Wal-Mart Super Center at 11:39 a.m., March 13 for a reported felony theft. Police met an asset protection associate who provided a report from the asset protection manager reporter who said she was aware of an excessive amount of customer returns at the Wal-Mart vision center.

The reporter identified the suspect at Kurowski after reviewing video of Kurowski inputting a refund for a previous order, remove cash and place it in an envelope, leave the area with the envelope and later return without it. Staff installed a covert camera in the vision center. Video surveillance showed Kurowski taking envelopes with money and entering a back office and concealing the envelope in a notepad before leaving the area.

The reporter said Kurowski completed 35 fraudulent transactions for a total value of $11,684.92 from Oct. 24, 2017 to March 12, 2018. The reporter said she contacted the original customer of every suspected fraudulent transaction and that all original customers said they were satisfied with their product and had not returned any items.

Kurowski admitted to the theft. She was summoned to appear in court at 8:30 a.m., April 16.