LEWISTON, Minn. — A Wabasha County woman who claims to be the victim of an ongoing online scam is being accused of stealing more than $3.75 million from her Lewiston employer and, separately, from a vulnerable adult.

According to a warrant and criminal complaint filed last week in Wabasha County District Court, Sharon Schmalzriedt, 61, of Wabasha, faces a felony theft charge for allegedly using her employer’s funds to pay someone she met online.

According to the criminal complaint:

Schmalzriedt worked for the Lewiston company remotely from Wabasha, doing bookkeeping, payroll and accounts payable.

The complaint said she was having marital problems and, in October 2019, began an online relationship with a man identifying himself as Erik Lockwood.

According to message transcripts, Lockwood and another person identifying themself as Lockwood’s attorney told Schmalzriedt that Lockwood was owed $7 million for work he did in Dubai. They told Schmalzriedt that Lockwood needed to borrow money to access the money he was owed, according to message transcripts.

Schmalzriedt told an agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension she initially sent her own money and money she said she had permission to borrow from the business.

Messages show that Schmalzriedt was aware she was stealing from the business and causing it financial difficulties.

In early 2023, the owner of the business, which was not named in the documents, began noticing financial irregularities and hired a chief financial officer from an outside firm to review and make copies of company records.

Schmalzriedt was fired on March 31 for gross negligence. The total loss to the business was more than $3.75 million.

Schmalzriedt also admitted she took $17,150 — which was reportedly meant to pay for a vulnerable adult’s nursing home — and gave it to the people she met online.

Lewiston police contacted the BCA for assistance with the fraud investigation in April.

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