A Eugene woman is accused of stealing about $4.5 million from Weyerhaeuser, the timber company she worked at for more than 40 years.
Susan Tranberg allegedly stole the money from her now-former employer in the span of June 2004 to January of this year.
According to court documents, Tranberg created a fake timber contract between Weyerhaeuser and her mother, Margaret Miller in 2004. Miller was not aware of the fake contract. Tranberg then used her mother’s name as a vendor and created and approved payments to the fake account. She also forged her colleagues’ signatures to approve requests.
Tranberg held multiple positions in the company’s accounting and finance departments. The federal lawsuit states she used that knowledge to create the scheme.
The scheme continued when Miller died in 2009 and Tranberg continued to use her name and information.
Between June 2004 and May 2014, Tranberg received more than $2.6 million from the company. From June 2014 to Jan. 2019, she received another almost $2 million.
Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams charged Tranberg Tuesday with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
She’s also facing a separate civil lawsuit from Weyerhaeuser.
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