Missing woman suspected of embezzling $675,000
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POLSON — Law enforcement agencies suspect a missing woman of allegedly embezzling an estimated $675,000 from Whitefish Credit Union in Polson.
Kathleen Gratton Sammons, a resident of Charlo and vice president of the Whitefish Credit Union, left work on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. to unlock the Wheat Montana building for an auction.
According to the Lake County criminal affidavit, Sammons never arrived at the building and missed her 12 p.m. appointment.
She didn’t respond to phone calls or text messages to her cell phone, nor did she respond to calls on her OnStar car phone.
Lake County Search and Rescue located her blue 2007 Chevrolet Suburban at an unoccupied residence three miles east of Pablo in the Snyder Hill area later that afternoon. The locked vehicle contained her purse with her identification and 11 credit cards, but contained no cash. According to the affidavit, Sammons is known to carry large amounts of money with her on occasion.
A co-worker, whose name wasn’t released, led authorities to the Pablo home that had recently gone into foreclosure.
According to the affidavit, Sammons’ husband Steve reported that she had been acting nervous lately, and on Wednesday evening she was very restless.
Friend of the suspect, Bob Congdon said on Thursday morning Sammons came to his house and was contemplating suicide. She stated that there was an auditor on the way to the bank that morning and discussed driving her car into oncoming traffic to cause a wreck. Upon further discussion, Sammons decided not to commit suicide, but to leave town with a friend instead.
Prior to Thursday, bank officials told Sammons to reduce the amount of money in her vault. She refused to comply and requested more money from the federal repository. After her request was denied, Sammons requested the cash a second time. She was granted a reduced amount of cash, instigating an audit on Thursday afternoon.
According to the affidavit, Sammons instructed tellers not to cash checks over $2,500. It explains that in order to avoid depletion of the repository at her branch, Sammons told tellers to issue Whitefish Credit Union checks to be deposited into customers’ other accounts or cashed at other financial institutions.
In the audit on Thursday, it was discovered that an estimated $675,000 was missing from the vault.
Lake County Undersheriff Jay Doyle said she contacted her family over the weekend to inform them that she was OK. Verizon Wireless surrendered phone records to the sheriff’s office after receiving an investigative subpoena, and the records indicate that Sammons used her cell phone in Prairie City, Oregon at 10:45 a.m. on Friday.
Doyle explained that the sheriff’s office is assisting the Polson Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case.
“Any time money is taken from a (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insured institution,” Deputy Lake County Attorney Cory Allen explained, “The federal government has the jurisdiction to investigate the crime.”
Any tips regarding the whereabouts of Sammons should be directed to the Polson Police Department. Sammons is 5’3” and approximately 215 pounds. She has long brown hair and blue eyes.
