Embezzlement case widens to family
magicvalley.com | 4/20/08 | Cassidy Friedman
It's impossible for a family member to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars, start lavishing her family with gifts and still have her family not question where the cash came from, said an administrator for a local women's health clinic that is suing its former bookkeeper. "When you have half a million dollars that you didn't have before, it's pretty obvious," said Rob Harding, an administrator for the Magic Valley Women's Health Clinic.
The clinic claims the former bookkeeper's fraud fed a family racketeering, and names five family members spread over three generations as defendants. In addition, the lawsuit alleges Karie Eldredge and her husband have used the embezzled funds to fuel their heating and air conditioning company, K&K Services.
The county prosecutor, who charged Eldredge with embezzling more than $400,000 from the clinic, portrayed the former bookkeeper's alleged activity as a one-woman operation. Laird Stone, a Twin Falls attorney representing all the family except Eldredge, denied the family knew anything about any alleged fraud. "What I've told them is, 'No, that's not true'," Stone said. "And you, the plaintiff, haven't shown me anything that shows that my clients knew the alleged acts by Karie or got anything. They didn't know and they didn't benefit."
Eldredge was charged Oct. 23, 2007 with writing checks to herself from February 2004 until she was fired Oct. 1, 2007. After writing the checks to herself, she recorded them in the clinic's electronic register as being paid to others.
Eldredge told police she first embezzled money to help family members but ended up lavishing herself with gifts to ease her own depression, according to court records. Nowhere in an affidavit does a police officer accuse family of knowingly participating in an embezzlement scheme. The clinic, however, assumes some of the family knew.
At the very least Eldredge's husband Kent knew, it says. And possibly her elderly father and mother, along with her two children were privy to the game, according to the complaint.
Family members "knowingly received, concealed, obtained control over, possessed, and/or disposed of property obtained by Karie Eldredge's fraudulent and criminal behavior," the complaint states, "knowing such property to be stolen or under such circumstances as would reasonably induce them to believe the property was stolen."
Eldredge, who is represented by Hailey defense attorney Keith Roark, declined to speak about the case, citing pending litigation. "All I can say is even though it's been terribly hard on my family, they stand beside me," she said, getting choked up by tears, "and they will stand beside me to the end."The emotion toll on the clinic has also been great, said Rob Harding, an administrator for the clinic, which is housed at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical but operates independently from the hospital.
He said the goal of the lawsuit is to recuperate lost funds. But he said the clinic's loss has not affected its services. "It was more of a trust issue," he said. "(But) we have tightened up the checks and balances in the office."
In the discovery phase, which is just beginning, Stone expects to learn Tolman's grounds for accusing the family of knowingly accepting embezzled money. Eldredge's criminal trial on four counts of felony grand theft is scheduled for four days starting July 22.