A Schuylkill County woman has been accused of stealing over $400,000 from a borough where she was employed as a secretary.

State police at Schuylkill Haven have charged Erin Hossler, 48, of Pottsville, with theft and related counts. She was arraigned before District Judge James Ferrier, of Orwigsburg, and committed to the county prison after failing to post $10,000 straight cash bail.

According to troopers, Hossler served as secretary for the borough of Cressona since 2013. Starting in January 2015, she began making fraudulent purchases, transactions and forging checks in the borough’s name for her own benefit, police allege.

During the course of the investigation, an audit was performed by Lettich & Zipay, of Pottsville. The total amount of fraudulent transactions, purchases and checks totaled $425,546.79.

After completing an audit, the Pottsville firm turned the information over to Network Associates of Harrisburg, and they completed a forensic audit of the transactions. The firm verified all of the transactions and amounts that Lettich & Zipay audited.