OLYMPIA – A former state government employee is accused of stealing more than $430,000 in checks intended for crime victims.
Ruth Luanne Smith, 48, of Tenino, a former employee of the Department of Labor and Industries, is charged with 87 counts of theft, according to documents filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Thursday.
Joseph Wheeler, senior prosecutor, said Smith will be summoned to court for arraignment on Feb. 6. Smith did not answer telephone calls to her home Friday.
The thefts alleged in the court papers topped $133,000, but the state auditor and the agency’s own investigators said the final loss will exceed $430,000.
The labor department’s deputy director, Ernie LaPalm, said Smith was responsible for paying medical bills to health care providers for services rendered to crime victims under terms of the state law that assists victims.
Wheeler said the alleged thefts occurred when Smith banked checks in her personal account when they were returned to the labor department because of incorrect addresses, overpayments or other problem, rather than destroying them.
“She was forging the endorsement of the provider on the check,” Wheeler said. “This came out of the state’s treasury. She’s stealing from crime victims because there’s only so much money the state has to give to crime victims.”
The labor department first discovered the problem in September when providers started calling about why they hadn’t been paid, said spokesman Robert Nelson. She was fired, he said, after working with the department since 1991.
The thefts began in January 2004, court papers said. Each count of first-degree theft is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and each count of second-degree theft carries a possible prison term of five years. The labor department also is seeking restitution.
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