Kansas town’s treasurer charged with keeping taxpayer cash for herself, going to casino

The former treasurer of a Kansas town has been charged with defrauding the city, allegedly keeping taxpayer money for herself and spending some of the money at a casino.

Deborah Sell was charged Thursday in federal court with wire fraud and filing a false tax return, court records show. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Sell schemed to defraud the Miami County town of Fontana while serving as its treasurer.

Sell’s alleged scheme to use public money to pay for personal expenses began sometime before July 2015 and continued until she left employment with the city in September 2017, according to court documents. Prosecutors accuse Sell of using city checks and a debit card to pay for personal expenses. Sell is also accused of keeping a portion of cash used by taxpayers to pay bills.

“As part of her employment, the defendant obtained cash from city taxpayers for services and fees, such as water utility bills,” federal lawyers wrote in court documents. “Instead of depositing the cash into the city’s bank account, the defendant kept a portion of the cash for her personal use.”

For the wire fraud charge, prosecutors allege that Sell went to a Riverside, Missouri, casino in February 2017 and used a city debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM for personal use. For the charge of filing a false tax return, prosecutors allege that Sell failed to report about $94,000 in income to the IRS.

This story was originally published May 27, 2019 at 2:35 PM.