PORT ANGELES — Charges against a former Clallam County Treasurer’s Office employee who is accused of stealing $617,467 in public funds ballooned Tuesday from one to 21.
Catherine Betts was charged in Clallam County Superior Court with one count of money laundering and 19 counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns with the state Department of Revenue.
That’s in addition to a charge of first-degree theft that was filed in March.
“As we reviewed the case and prepared for trial, it became clear that additional charges would be appropriate,” state Assistant Attorney General Scott Marlow said after the brief hearing.
Marlow, who is prosecuting the case, declined to elaborate.
Betts, who participated in the hearing by speakerphone from Shelton, will be arraigned on the new charges Jan. 10.
That’s the date she originally was going to face trial.
But because of the new charges and a mountain of documents the defense still must pore through, Judge Brooke Taylor agreed to let that lapse.
A new trial date will be set at the same hearing as the arraignment.
Betts allegedly stole the funds by manipulating and destroying paper and computer records at the Treasurer’s Office in a checks-for-cash fraud involving real estate excise tax proceeds over six years, a state Auditor’s Office investigation concluded.
Betts allegedly confessed to stealing about $1,200 after the theft was first discovered, according to a Port Angeles police affidavit.
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.
