The owners of a Charlotte tree firm are suing a local couple, claiming they spent more than $4 million on expensive Swiss jewelry, watches, and shoes for themselves, as well as to pay off debts with company money.
Cadieu Tree Experts, a family-owned tree removal and pruning firm, alleged Stephanie and Dain Wiedner of South Charlotte “intentionally cultivated a relationship” with the Cadieus in order to gain access and control of the business bank accounts.
Stephanie Wiedner had access to the Cadieu Tree Experts bank account since she served as the company’s bookkeeper and administrator, according to the lawsuit.
Wiedner was also granted access to the Cadieus’ personal bank account to conduct commercial real estate transactions, rental revenue, taxes, and company expenses, according to the lawsuit. According to court documents, the account had “excess of $3 million to pay for tax liabilities.”
According to the lawsuit, Marion and Joseph Cadieu, owners of a tree company, claim that their corporate bank accounts were fraudulently used to pay for the Wiedners’ luxurious lifestyle from October 2022 to October 2024. The “stolen funds” were uncovered.
The magnitude of the theft is unknown, as the plaintiff continues to study banking records and other papers, according to the lawsuit.
The Wiedners’ alleged activities constitute a Class F felony, according to the lawsuit. It’s unclear whether criminal charges were filed in this case.
Attorneys for the Cadieus declined to comment. The Wiedners’ lawyers did not return a request for comment.
Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin represents the Cadieuse family. James, McElroy, and Diehl represent the Wiedner family.
The action, which was filed in November in Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court, has subsequently been assigned to the North Carolina Business Court, which handles complex business litigation issues.
Stephanie Wiedner’s current employment status was not disclosed in the lawsuit.
Lawsuit: ‘Unauthorized payments’ over two years
The alleged fraud began in October 2022, when Wiedner illegally added her spouse to Cadieu Tree’s payroll, according to the lawsuit. Dain Wiedner was paid $12,500 each month, totaling “more than $200,000 in unauthorized salary payments,” according to the lawsuit.
“The Wiedners caused Cadieu Tree’s monthly expenditures to increase from $200,000-$250,000 a month in expenses to over $500,000 a month with no concurrent reasonable justification,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the Wiedners made repeated and frequent modest money transfers between the Cadieus’ commercial real estate account and the tree company’s operations account to pay for direct purchases over a two-year period in order to escape detection.
“The sheer number of transfers between the accounts… remains a significant impediment to determining the full extent of the funds obtained unlawfully” by the Wiedners from the plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the Wiedners allegedly constructed other accounts and online electronic payments to “disguise the nature and extent of the personal charges paid,” with a total amount transferred between the Cadieus’ accounts totaling roughly $4.7 million to fund their additional costs.
Shopping, credit cards and loans
According to the lawsuit, the Wiedners used the Cadieu operations account to pay more than $3 million on their personal American Express credit card over a two-year period.
According to the lawsuit, another $200,000 was put into the Wiedners’ personal credit card accounts with Capital One, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Discovery.
The lawsuit highlighted 14 examples of “unauthorized and unlawful” transfers for purchases at high-end merchants such as Nordstrom’s and Christian Louboutin, as well as a $295 purchase of Annalee dolls and furniture. According to the lawsuit, the highest purchases include:
▪ $15,666 toward the purchase and finance of a Volvo for Dain Wiedner, starting in June 2023 through August 2024.
▪ $8,151 for one or more Swiss watches from Swatch in November 2023.
▪ $6,617 for Swiss jewelry from Richemont in July 2024.
▪ $5,009 for Louis Vuitton handbags and personal items from January to August 2024.
▪ $4,687 in jewelry purchases from Tiffany & Co. in July 2024.
▪ $4,478 to purchase Christian Dior “personal items” from January to July 2024.
According to the lawsuit, the Wiedners spent at least $275,000 on house modifications beginning in May of last year.
According to the lawsuit, once the fraudulent behavior was uncovered in October 2024, the Wiedners began turning the stolen funds into real estate and getting loans.
Skyla Credit Union provided the Wiedners with a $500,000 home equity loan against their Carmel Road residence on October 28. In 2021, Premier Federal Credit Union merged with Charlotte Metro Federal Credit Union to form Skyla.
Mecklenburg County property records show that Dain Wiedner and Stephanie Reardon, who were unmarried at the time, paid $450,000 for the 3,996-square-foot, four-bedroom ranch home on nearly one acre in 2015. The current appraised value is $726,600.
Skyla is also identified as a defendant in this case. Bank executives did not return inquiries for comment.