Negotiations underway in theft case

SANDPOINT — Plea negotiations are pushing back the trial of Bonner General Health's former finance chief, who is accused of fleecing the community hospital of more than $200,000.

Norilina Salvatierra Harvel was scheduled to be tried in 1st District Court on a felony charge of grand theft in May, but the defense and the state moved jointly to postpone the three-day proceeding in an effort to resolve the case without a trial, court records show.

“Due to the financial issues in the case, additional time is needed to determine the specific details,” Harvel's defense counsel, Coeur d'Alene attorney Craig Zanetti, said in a motion to postpone the trial.

A new trial date is pending.

Harvel, 47, of Washington, Utah, is free on $50,000 bail while her case is pending.

Harvel is charged with grand theft for allegedly embezzling as much as $220,000 while managing the hospital's finances between 2012 to 2014.

Harvel is accused of purchasing a piece of medical equipment, selling it to a leasing company and pocketing the proceeds, according to hospital officials. She then used embezzled funds to make payments on the lease. Harvel is further accused of claiming to have purchase another piece of equipment that was in fact never bought.

Harvel was the hospital's CFO for 10 years. She left in 2014 to take a job with Montrose Memorial Hospital in Colorado. She no longer holds that job and her former employers decline to say why.

The motive for the thefts remains unexplained in court records. Hospital officials said Harvel was earning a low six-figure salary when she was chief financial officer.

Harvel has remained silent amid the proceedings and neither Harvel nor her counsel have responded for requests for comment.

Hospital officials said they were unaware of any strain on Harvel's personal finances.