(Spirit Lake)– The Executive Director of the Before and After School Services, or BASS Program in the Okoboji and Spirit Lake school districts has been charged for allegedly misappropriating funds.
Spirit Lake police today (Wed.) arrested 40-year-old Margaret (Meg) Waltz of Spirit Lake. She’s been charged with one count of ongoing criminal conduct…a class “B” felony and one count of theft in first degree…a class “C” felony. Waltz was booked into the Dickinson county jail on bond of 45,500-dollars.
Police say the arrest stems from a 10-month investigation.
The State Auditor’s Office today (Wed.) released a report of it’s investigation into the matter. It turned up 419,336-dollars in improper or unsupported disbursements from the BASS Program from July 1st, 2000 until December 31st, 2004.
The report identified an alleged payment of 77,733-dollars toward personal credit cards and more than 147-thousand dollars in alleged personal purchases, including a 2002 Chevy Avalanche; an 8,300-dollar diamond ring; a vacation to Cancun for her and 15 members of her family; a vacation to the Virgin Islands; payments to family members; and other miscellaneous shopping trips.
Spirit Lake police today (Wed.) executed various search, seizure and arrest warrants, seizing a bank account, a 2002 Chevy Avalanche pickup and a diamond ring.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and more charges and arrests may be forthcoming.
Waltz was NOT employed by either the Spirit Lake or Okoboji School Districts.
The probe into the BASS Program finances came at the request of the Department of Human Services, which provided grants to the program to the tune of 662,719 dollars between July 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2004. DHS officials expressed concern about certain disbursements made with those funds.
BASS receives payments from the DHS, parents and guardians for child care services and other sources. The organization received more than 1.3 million dollars from all sources between July 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2004.
