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Karen Spranger charged with larceny, allegedly stole $1,660 from elderly woman she was caring for

Posted at 1:51 PM, May 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-01 18:50:36-04

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Former Macomb County Clerk Karen Spranger has been charged with larceny in relation to a case involving a Warren woman she was supposed to be taking care of. 7 Action News Reporter Anu Prakash first broke the story this morning on Twitter.

Since the end of February, Warren police have been seeking charges, alleging Spranger stole money from a 78-year-old woman and assaulted her. Police said she filed a reporter but decided not co cooperate and didn't want to proceed with any investigation. Police were originally seeking charges for embezzlement and domestic violence.

7 Action News spoke with Spranger's alleged victim, who was reluctant to speak given what she said was a 15 year friendship with Spranger. She didn't want to say her name or show her face, but told us, "“I’ve experienced enormous loss financially and materially. I don’t have any judgment or resentment. I just want her to be healthy and happy.”

According to Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith, an investigation found that between Jan. 1 and Jan. 8 of this year, the victim's ATM was used eight times and $1,660 was taken from the victim's account. Each time, Smith said that Spranger was the person taking the money out of the account.

Spranger has been charged with larceny between $1,000 and $20,000, which is a 20-year felony.

Last month, they said they would like to talk to Spranger, but they couldn't find her. According to Smith, they still haven't been able to locate Spranger and would like to talk to her. He urged her to contact the prosecutor's office.

Originally, the victim said she just wanted Spranger out of her life, but after the investigation and seeing photos, she wanted to proceed with the prosecution.

Several of the photos of Spranger captured on bank surveillance at the ATM are below.

Spranger lost her job as clerk last year when a judge found she lied about where she lives.