BUTLER TWP — A woman is accused of using her position as a supervisor to hire a “ghost employee” at a Moraine Pointe Plaza restaurant in an alleged payroll fraud scheme that netted her more than $48,000.

But Michele L. Krzewinski apparently kept little if any of the suspected ill-gotten money for herself. Rather, according to township detectives, she turned it over to the fake employee — her then-boyfriend, who was serving a lengthy stint in state prison for the armed robbery of a purported house of prostitution in Philadelphia.

Butler Township police this week charged Krzewinski, 48, of Sligo, Clarion County, and Christopher J. Sweet, 47, of Philadelphia in connection with the alleged fraud in 2018 and 2019.

Krzewinski turned herself in Thursday at the office of District Judge Kevin O'Donnell, where she was arraigned on felony charges of forgery, theft by deception, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, unlawful use of a computer, and computer trespass. She also is charged with misdemeanor counts of tampering with records and unsworn falsification to authorities. She was later released on her own recognizance.

State police in Beaver County charged Krzewinski this week in a similar payroll fraud case there.

On Thursday, O'Donnell also signed an arrest warrant for Sweet, who is reportedly at a halfway house in Philadelphia while on parole. He is facing felony charges of theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

The charges followed an internal investigation by officials at Long John Silver's, said Butler Township police Detective Max Wittlinger.

Krzewinski formerly worked at the restaurant chain as an area supervisor.

“She had the authority to hire and go in (and) change the pay clock system,” Wittlinger said Thursday in discussing his investigation, which followed the restaurant's internal probe.

In all, she oversaw nine or 10 restaurants in Butler and surrounding counties.

Her position entailed the use of a company laptop computer, Wittlinger said, which provided remote access to her restaurants.

It also allegedly allowed her to hire “ghost employees” — fake employees who never worked for the company, but were created by payroll to divert funds.

Wittlinger accused Krzewinski of adding Sweet's name to the payroll account as an employee at Long John Silver's Moraine Pointe Plaza restaurant.

Once he was on the payroll account, she allegedly was able to exact her fraud. Between May 12, 2018, and Oct. 25, 2019, when Sweet was on the employee books, he “earned” $48,636.15.

“But he didn't work a single day,” Wittlinger said.

The restaurant notified police in late October after it uncovered the alleged scheme following Krzewinski's firing. She was terminated not for the alleged fraud, police said, but for general poor performance. An email sent Friday to Long John Silver's corporate headquarters seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Krzewinski's firing led to the internal review, which eventually led to the criminal charges. Wittlinger interviewed her Nov. 15 at the police station. She acknowledged her relationship with Sweet, he said, and claimed Sweet talked her into adding him as an employee at the restaurant.

Sweet was placed on the payroll and given a fake local address, according to charging documents. He was paid by “pay card,” not by traditional paychecks. The pay card is like a debit card from the restaurant.

Each two-week period, the employee's pay is placed on the card. Krzewinski allegedly admitted to using the pay card to send money to Sweet and his known associates, which included his cell mate, other inmates, his friends and family.

Wittlinger said Krzewinski met Sweet while he was in the State Correctional Institution in Forest County.

“One of her friends was dating Sweet's cell mate,” the detective said.

He had been locked up for a violent crime on March 23, 2001. According to court records, he and several individuals disguised as police officers and armed with handguns robbed an establishment in Philadelphia's Chinatown section that apparently was being used as a prostitution house.

Actual Philly police answered the call and arrested Sweet and five others. He was charged with robbery, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, burglary, possessing an instrument of crime, and carrying a firearm without a license.

In April 2002, a jury convicted Sweet on all charges. He was sentenced to a term of 17 to 34 years in prison.

During his investigation, Wittlinger obtained Sweet's prison records, which showed Krzewinski visited him 38 times between Jan. 26 and Dec. 30, 2018, at SCI-Forest and SCI-Phoenix near Philadelphia.

He also checked a JPay account — named “M K” — at the prison. JPay is a company that, in part, allows prisoners to receive money. The “M K” account, which had Krzewinski's home address in Sligo on it, showed a total of $8,275 had been deposited into several inmate's accounts. Additionally, Wittlinger learned that Sweet had been in state prison from May 14, 2002, to Jan. 11, 2019, which meant, the detective noted, it was unlikely that Sweet worked for Long John Silver's in 2018.

His investigation also included a review of 221 recorded jailhouse calls allegedly between Sweet and Krzewinski. The couple can be heard frequently talking about money, Wittlinger said, with Sweet telling Krzewinski to send money to different people.

In one call May 13, 2018, she discusses hiring employees at Long John Silver's, and tells him “he's about to go through too,” court documents said.

“There are multiple other comments made that reveal that both Krzewinski and Sweet were willing participants in this crime,” according to the documents.

Krzewinski's preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled Feb. 20. Online court records did not indicate if she has an attorney. She could not be reached for comment.

Sweet is believed to be living in a halfway or a three-quarter house in or around Philadelphia following his release from prison. He is on parole until 2036. He could not be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, state police in Beaver charged Krzewinski with forgery, theft, receiving stolen property, and tampering with public records or information, all felonies, in connection with her then-employment at Long John Silver's. She is accused in that case of creating a different ghost employee, this one at the East Rochester restaurant, who was fraudulently paid $39,255.73 between July 2018 and October 2019. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 13.