ST. JOHNS — Prosecutors have dismissed charges against a woman accused of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from a medical services company she worked for in 2019 and 2020.

An attorney for Nicole Rene Boose said he was able to disprove allegations that Boose stole money from Bath Township-based Aiding Hearts LLC. She was accused of tampering with payroll and pocketing paychecks to two people who never worked for the company and another who worked there for only two weeks.

The attorney, Edwar Zeineh, said the U.S. Department of Labor investigated Aiding Hearts during the time Boose worked there and reviewed the same records provided to detectives in the criminal case.

“During that investigation, the US Department of Labor determined that Ms. Boose was still owed money,” Zeineh said in an email. “We also learned that this was the second investigation of the same entity that resulted in significant sanctions against the Company for reckless and willful violations of Federal Labor Laws. These documents were not originally provided by the accuser.”

Court records indicate the charges were dismissed last month on the day set for a preliminary hearing to determine if Boose should stand trial on the charges.

Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Spagnuolo said the charges were dismissed without prejudice pending further investigation by Bath Township police, meaning they could be refiled at a later date. The move came after the defense raised new evidence that required futher investigation, he said.

Spagnuolo declined to discuss specifics of the evidence, citing ethical constraints.

Zeineh said he’s confident the case is over with, based on the law and the available facts.

Aiding Hearts owner Lisa Herrguth said she expects charges will be refiled following further investigation.

Boose, who owns Rich’s Residential in Lansing, was charged in Clinton County District Court in June on 19 counts of embezzlement by an agent over $1,000, but less than $20,000. She also was charged with altering or forging a state ID and using it to commit a misdemeanor.

In a warrant hearing, a Bath Township police detective testified that Boose rigged payroll at Aiding Hearts so she was paid for more hours than she actually worked. She also pocketed paychecks for two people who were on the payroll but never worked for Aiding Hearts, including a New York woman who told police she had never been to Michigan, the detective testified.

There also were payroll statements “that didn’t have any hours but had (a) miscellaneous section with a substantial amount of money that didn’t correspond with Nicole’s pay rate or typical hours,” he testified.

The embezzlement counts were based on payroll deposits made between May 2019 and July 2020, he testified.

Boose pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Zeineh said at the time he believed his investigation would “lead to exculpatory evidence that should have been reviewed prior to making a charging decision on the case.”

In a Facebook posting this week, Boose denied writing checks to herself and suggested she and others “were paid incorrectly,” which she said was determined by federal labor board investigations.

Herrguth said she is frustrated with the slow progress of the case but was confident it eventually will go forward.

She said the issues raised by the defense include an older wage-and-hour investigation that did not involve Boose and resulted in a fine resulting from a mistake by a novice business owner. The second investigation was sparked by a complaint filed by Boose, which Herrguth described as “completely false,” the Aiding Hearts owner said.

That investigation did not result in a fine, Herrguth said.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Charges dropped in embezzlement case involving Lansing health care company