A one-time president of East County Little League has been charged with embezzling more than $11,000 from the league by writing checks to herself between 2009 and 2010.
Kimberly A. Dimes-Garner, 41, of Washougal was summoned to appear in Clark County Superior Court Tuesday to face charges of first-degree theft and money laundering.
Trial was set for March 26.
According to court documents filed in December, Dimes-Garner, the league’s president between 2008 and 2010, allegedly wrote 60 checks to herself from the league’s checkbook, which were then deposited into her personal bank accounts.
The alleged embezzlement occurred between September 2009 and October 2010.
The league was alerted to the missing money in spring 2010 when a new board of directors came in; a board member notified the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in November 2010.
Of the checks deposited into Dimes-Garner’s account, the money was taken by cash withdrawals or “used to pay the suspect’s personal expenses via a debit card or via checks written by Dimes-Garner,” according to the court summons written by Deputy Prosecutor Scott Ikata.
Prosecutors allege Dimes-Garner also created a false accounting document, which she gave to board members so they wouldn’t become suspicious about the missing money.
In two interviews with investigators, Dimes-Garner admitted to writing the checks and said that most of them were unrelated to league affairs. Of 13 of the checks, she said they were reimbursements to herself for league expenses, according to court documents. However, investigators said, board members did not corroborate her story.
Dimes-Garner reportedly told investigators she was overspending.
“Dimes-Garner admitted that she incurred insufficient funds charges to her bank accounts on a regular basis and that she was spending as much as $1,500 a month in excess of her legitimate monthly income, and that the money to support her spending came from funds stolen,” according to Ikata’s court summons.
