Hearing reset in case alleging embezzlement

SANDPOINT — An arraignment hearing was postponed Monday for a Washington state woman accused of embezzling from her former employer.

The hearing in Pamela Ann McGrath case was reset for March 19 because she was ill, according to court documents.

McGrath is charged with grand theft, burglary and forgery for using Sandpoint Title Insurance’s checking account to draft checks to herself last December. One of the checks was for $1,873 and another was for $986, although it’s not clear if the second check was successfully cashed.

McGrath is accused of manipulating accounting records in an attempt to cover her tracks, according to Sandpoint Police reports. McGrath, a former escrow officer, told company officials last month that she was going out of state to tend to a family matter last month.

McGrath, 52, was confronted at her former residence in Ponderay and she confessed to the wrongdoing, which she described as an aberration.

She told a detective she developed a gambling addiction to cope with the death of her parents about 10 years ago, the reports said. McGrath also admitted passing on a forged check to another person and said the extent of the thefts exceeded $2,000 and may have been as high as $5,000, the report said.

McGrath waived her right to a preliminary hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court earlier this month and was bound over to 1st District Court to stand trial.

She is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.

McGrath has no prior criminal record in Idaho, according to the state supreme court data repository.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.