Former Historic Bluff Country Executive Director facing charges of forgery

By Jade Sexton
jade@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Fri, Oct 12th, 2012
Posted in Mabel Court

Comments

On October 8, 2012, former Historic Bluff Country (HBC) Administrator Kristina Nolte, 41 of Mabel, appeared at the Fillmore County Courthouse. She faced several felony charges: two counts of aggravated forgery, two counts of theft by check, and two counts of forgery, after allegedly taking money from HBC during the time she worked there, from 2008 through November of 2011.

Last December, shortly after Nolte’s employment ended, a current HBC employee noticed there were suspicious financial transactions dating back to 2008, when Nolte began her employment there. She and the board members agreed they should contact law enforcement about what they discovered.

There were several inconsistencies and suspicious transactions that alerted the HPC board and employees to contact police. Nolte had allegedly used the HBC credit card for her own personal purchases, and paid for it with HBC money. She had allegedly written several suspicious checks with HBC money, had allegedly reimbursed herself for mileage that board members felt was excessive, and had allegedly made payments from the HBC account to her own personal accounts, a couple of them that were also in her husband’s name. She had allegedly acquired a $15,000 loan for HBC by fabricating a board meeting that never happened and obtaining a signature from the secretary under false pretenses.

During her time working for HBC, there were several times the bank account was overdrawn. The former employee whose name was on the credit card Nolte allegedly used allegedly had trouble getting a home loan from the bank because of problems with the credit card.

When questioned by law enforcement, Nolte said she couldn’t remember what the checks were for that she had written. She did, however, admit to fabricating a board meeting.

Nolte’s next court appearance is October 22, 2012. She is facing maximum penalties of up to 10 years in jail, $20,000 fine, or both.