Former motel manager charged with payroll, equipment theft

A former general manager of the Fort Scott Inn faces numerous charges for alleged payroll theft, misusing a business credit card and taking various office materials, all totaling more than $6,500.

The Bourbon County Attorney's Office charged 44-year-old Denise Kase last week with 11 counts of making false information and one count of theft. The 11 charges are low-grade felonies that carry a minimum of 31 months in jail, if convicted.

According to court documents, making false information states is "knowledge that such information falsely states or represents some material matter or is not what it purports to be."

Kase was summoned to appear at 9 a.m. Feb. 12 at the Bourbon County Courthouse to face the charges.

The charges stem from a one-year investigation by the Eastern Shawnee Tribal Police and Fort Scott Police. Detectives with the departments allege Kase took money from the payroll accounts between June 19 and Aug. 23, 2005. A tribal police investigator said she allegedly wrote numerous checks to people who didn't work at the hotel, some of whom were family members. The payroll theft totaled $4,059, according to FSPD documents.

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma has owned the hotel, located at 101 State St., for the past six years.

The tribal police began investigating Kase after a controller with the tribe reviewed the bookkeeping and discovered the checks.

Also, the investigator said Kase misused the company's credit card. However, the amount of apparent credit card theft was a small portion of the total loss the tribe sustained, he said. No customer credit cards were used inappropriately, he said. The investigator declined to comment further about her alleged inappropriate use of the credit card.

Kase is also accused of stealing a desk and a personal computer, a combined value of $2,475, from the motel, according to FSPD.

An investigator said Kase initially admitted the wrongdoing, to a certain extent, but became uncooperative as the investigation continued. The tribal police found 14 possible counts of fraud, but the Bourbon County Attorney's office only filed 11 charges.

Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson said if additional information develops, she may file more charges. She said she could not comment on specifics of the case.

Kase quit the job before she was fired, the tribal police investigator said.