Hearing set in embezzlement case

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is set for a Bonner County woman accused of embezzling from a Ponderay building supply store over a four-year period.

The hearing to determine if Monica Rose Reeves should be tried in 1st District Court for grand theft is scheduled for Dec. 5.

Reeves, 31, is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.

Charging papers allege Reeves perpetrated the thefts from 2008 to 2011, while she was employed as a bookkeeper at Sandpoint Building Supply.

The embezzlements were discovered in December 2011, according to a Ponderay Police report. Reeves allegedly wrote up orders for returned merchandise and applied the proceeds to two of her personal credit cards. She’s also accused of stealing cash and then making up nonexistent returns to cover her tracks.

Reeves, the police report said, readily confessed to committing the thefts when confronted with the allegations. She allegedly stated that she was unsure of the amount that was taken, but admitted that it was substantial.

The scope of the embezzlement was initially pegged at about $3,700, but a company audit completed in June indicates she took almost 10 times that amount. Company officials contend their total losses amount to $30,779.