Updated at 12:09 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 35-year-old Centralia woman has been arrested following an investigation into as much as $70,000 discovered missing from the account of an association she worked for while employed at the Lewis County Health Department.
April K. Kelley was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree theft on Friday and is tentatively scheduled to go before a judge this afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court.
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said that Kelley was the treasurer for the Association of County Human Services between 2010 and 2014 while she worked at the county health department.
A new treasurer last year reviewed the books and found $60,000 to $70,000 missing, according to Breen.
The association takes in about $90,000 each year in dues from members, comprised of representatives from each of Washington’s 39 counties, according to Breen.
ACHS is a non-profit group with members who provide or administer programs related to chemical dependency, mental health and developmental disabilities. It is an affiliate of the Washington State Association of Counties, according to information on its web site.
Breen said this morning Kelley admitted to removing money from the account, saying she didn’t keep track but estimated around $90,000. She replaced $50,000 of it in 2011 with money borrowed from a family member, he said.
He said the amount stolen is currently estimated as between $40,000 to $70,000.
Kelley was hired at the Lewis County Department of Public Health & Social Services in July 2007. She is no longer employed there, as of this past Friday, according to Director Danette York.
She was the social services manager, with responsibilities for programs for housing, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, and senior services.
It appears she may have bailed out of jail yesterday, from information on the Lewis County Jail’s online roster.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I agree Crazy. If you put two or three layers of oversight in place that would stop this.
I know people who work for a county agency and I asked them about their purchasing system. The person who does the purchasing does so with a credit card (no cash withdrawal options) or through purchase orders. When the bills come in they are forwarded to the Auditor’s Office with a voucher. They then make the payment from the agency’s line item budget. No cash exists and there is no access to cash through the credit card.
It is good that restitution has been made (if verified ) for a lot of the money but there still needs to accountability.
TRUST BUT VERIFY!!
Enjoy you’re Gubmint funded neuro toxic Fluoride dose. Number one cause of artery disease in the United States. The truth is not a conspiracy. The product has Skull and Bones on the bags being dumped into your water supply. Mean while Gubmint employees are robbing the cookie jar of tax payers. Just more proof we need to seize the offices of the corrupt government with guns drawn.
Kudos to the new treasurer for bringing this to the authorities. Several of these embezzling cases come to light each year in Lewis County. All could be avoided if simple financial controls were in place. Trust but verify. Never allow the person who has access to money accounts be the sole person who receives the statements. In this case the CEO should receive the statements unopened and review them monthly. Of course now it’s online, so there is no excuse except laziness.
Once again the True Colors of Lewis County Gubmint Officials have been exposed for what they really are. Criminals pretending to be upstanding Citizens.