MUKILTEO — The president and the finance director of a nonprofit Mukilteo company that assists disabled workers have been fired from those jobs and are now facing felony theft charges.
Prosecutors recently charged Kenneth Storkel and Sandra Adams Ball with first-degree theft.
The pair is accused of stealing more than $110,000 from Diversified Industrial Services, a nonprofit company that provides skills training and employment support for disabled clients, according to court records. The amount of money involved prompted prosecutors to file the case as a “major economic offense,” raising the possibility for extra punishment.
Prosecutors allege that beginning in 2006, Storkel and Adams Ball took cash advances in violation of company policy and then failed to repay the money.
Storkel, 66, was the president and chief executive officer at the time of the alleged thefts. He is accused stealing about $67,000. Adams Ball, 50, worked as the director of finance. Investigators believe she took about $47,000.
Both were fired in April, according to court documents.
The board of directors hired an independent auditor to investigate and discovered that the employees violated company policy, according to a statement issued Monday by company President Tiffany Mack.
“A review of customer accounts and stakeholder funding also occurred. No instance of mishandling were identified,” Mack wrote.
Mack told police as of Feb. 10, Storkel and Adams Ball hadn’t paid back any of the money, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Kathy Jo Blake wrote in court records.
A human resources employee in April noticed some payroll discrepancies and brought the books to the company’s vice president. Storkel and Adams Ball were put on paid administrative leave.
A few days later during a special board meeting, they allegedly provided written statements admitting they had taken the money, Blake wrote.
Investigators believe the records of the cash advances were kept separate from the payroll record book and stuffed in Adams Ball’s filing cabinet, court records show.
Mukilteo police interviewed Storkel in July and he reportedly told investigators he knew he wasn’t supposed to take more than a $600 pay advance. He also allegedly told the detective he believe he owed the company about $63,000. Police reported that Storkel said his financial troubles stemmed from trying to maintain two households, Blake wrote.
Adams Balls allegedly told the detective she planned to repay the money she took. She said she was waiting for returns on real estate and stock investments, Blake wrote.
She denied that she tried to hide the advances and said they were in her desk because she had a bad habit of not filing paperwork, according to the court record.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.
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