RED WING - A Cannon Falls woman is accused of stealing more than $8,000 from the checking and savings accounts of eight vulnerable adults living in Lutheran Social Services group homes in Red Wing.
Ashley Lynn Dettmann, 24, has been charged by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office with theft by swindle. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Lutheran Social Services is a statewide nonprofit that provides social services in more than 300 communities, including Red Wing. Local agency officials declined comment when contacted by the R-E.
Bill Fredell, director of communications at the Minnesota Lutheran Social Services office, would not comment specifically about the case, but said his office is cooperating with authorities.
"We take anything like this very seriously," he said. "We want to make sure if there's a hole in our system that we put measures in place to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
ADVERTISEMENT
The Goodhue County Attorney's Office forwarded the case to a neighboring county, which referred it to the Attorney General's Office.
That office handles fraud claims involving Medicaid funds, which some Lutheran Social Services clients use to pay for services.
"This is especially egregious because (Dettmann) dealt with their personal finances and she abused that trust," said Brian Bergson, spokesman for Attorney General Lori Swanson.
Dettmann began working for Lutheran Social Services in November 2006 as a supervisor, according to the criminal complaint filed in Goodhue County First District Court.
When the fraudulent activity began in August 2007, Dettmann had an office at the Red Wing group home at 2298 Bevans Circle.
According to the complaint, Dettmann was responsible for handling the checking accounts of several clients and had access to the file cabinet where their checkbooks were kept.
In an interview with authorities, Dettmann admitted she would get the required client signature on the check, then cash it and take the money for herself, according to the complaint.
Dettmann would use the cash to purchase personal items such as gasoline and food, and also spent some of the money at a casino, the complaint said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The complaint states that Dettmann would write checks out to "cash" and take them to a local bank.
She told authorities she entered the checks into Lutheran Social Services' computer system as legitimate payments to places such as Target and the YMCA to avoid any red flags, according to the complaint.
Supervisors became suspicious and contacted Red Wing police in March following an audit at the Bevans Circle home.
Subsequent audits by staff at another group home at 545 Spring Creek Road revealed more fraudulent behavior, the complaint said.
Dettmann allegedly told investigators she did not know why she started stealing from her clients but that sometimes she would take money from the fraudulent checks and put it into a client's petty cash fund, according to the complaint.
Dettmann went on maternity leave in February. According to the complaint, she did not return to work when her medical leave expired March 14.
