- Karen Rochelle Beebe, 52, is accused of embezzling $76,000 from a youth baseball league.
- She faces multiple felony charges including fraud and unlawful financial card use.
- The money was spent at Amazon, Walmart and Vrbo, police allege.
WEST JORDAN — The former treasurer of a youth baseball league in Utah is accused of embezzling about $76,000.
Karen Rochelle Beebe, 52, of West Jordan, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with four counts of communications fraud and five counts of unlawful use of a financial card, second-degree felonies; an additional count of communications fraud, unlawful use of a financial card and embezzlement, third-degree felonies; and doing business without a license, a class B misdemeanor.
The investigation began in February when the president of the West Jordan Copper Hills Baseball League contacted police to report possible embezzlement.
"(He) said that he discovered that the nonprofit organization West Jordan Copper Hills Baseball League's former treasurer, Karen Rochelle Beebe, had misappropriated approximately $76,000 from the nonprofit organization over the past four or five years," according to charging documents.
The alleged embezzlement was discovered after the league learned "that their taxes had not been filed in seven years," the charges state. A search warrant affidavit further notes that "the league lost their non-profit status because of the lack of tax filing."
Beebe, described in court documents as the league's accountant, was fired in January.
The league's board started reviewing the organization's bank accounts after Beebe was let go. They discovered that the snack bar at the Ron Wood Baseball Park, 5900 W. New Bingham Highway, "showed purchases using Beebe's card number at Walmart.com ranging from $50 to $600, occurring multiple times per month over approximately four years. (The president) explained that these expenses were never voted on or approved by the organization's board," the charges state. "There were also charges to Amazon, Vrbo, and payments to universities with which the organization had no association.
"(Police) noticed the purchases included questionable items such as menstrual tablets, women's thin pads, nail polish remover, makeup remover, razor refills, hair sprays, shampoos and conditioners which did not seem consistent with purchases needed for a nonprofit baseball league," according to the charges.
The league further discovered Beebe's accounting firmer, KRB Tax and Accounting, "was paid $13,000 through the organization's payroll system by Beebe without board approval," according to the charges. Investigators then discovered that the business was dissolved in 2013.
When police questioned Beebe, she said "that she was paid to do taxes and accounting, but they were very relaxed and there wasn't a lot of things in writing. Upon further questioning … Beebe said that she needed an attorney," the charges state.
