PORT ANGELES — A woman accused of stealing $617,467 in public funds through the Clallam County Treasurer’s Office could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Catherine Betts, 46, is charged in Clallam County Superior Court with one count of first-degree theft, one count of money laundering and 19 counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns with the state Department of Revenue.
Until Tuesday, she faced only the theft charge.
That charge comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The new charges, with two aggravated enhancements, bump Betts’ potential prison time up to 20 years if she is found guilty, said Scott Marlow, state assistant attorney general.
Betts, a former cashier in the Treasurer’s Office, allegedly stole the funds — all real estate excise tax revenue — by manipulating and destroying paper and computer records.
Marlow, who is prosecuting the case, said he added the charge of filing false tax returns to the case because Betts had a role in reporting real estate excise tax income to the state each month.
Since she is alleged to have falsified records, those tax reports would have been inaccurate, he said.
County Treasurer Judy Scott said Betts was one of two employees who were responsible for reporting the income.
Scott said Betts would provide the figures to an accountant, who then filed the paperwork with the state.
A state Auditor’s Office investigation found that the thefts occurred from Feb. 1, 2004, through May 19, 2009 — a total of 63 months.
Even though the tax reports were filed monthly, Marlow said, Betts is charged with 19 counts of filing false tax returns partly because some of the records hadn’t been kept after the legally required retention period lapsed.
Also, some had signatures missing or were simply not dated, he said.
But any additional counts of filing false tax returns would not affect the maximum sentence because convictions on that charge — which comes with a penalty of up to five years in prison — must be served concurrently.
Marlow said Betts is now also charged with money laundering because she is alleged to have falsified documents to steal the funds and is also believed to have spent some of it.
But how much is still not clear.
“We’ve not determined what she did with the money,” Marlow said. “We, unfortunately, cannot trace all the funds.”
He declined to say how much has been traced or known to have been spent, adding that “it will have to come out in court.”
Betts’ trial date will be rescheduled Jan. 10. She will also be arraigned then on the new charges.
The trial was last scheduled to begin Jan. 10. Before that, it was scheduled for July 12 of this year.
The date has been moved twice to allow the defense to wade through 60,000 documents related to the case.
The county approved a $597,516 insurance settlement to cover the missing funds in October. That doesn’t include a $10,000 deductible.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
