By Sheila Stogsdill

news@joplinglobe.com

PINEVILLE, Mo. — A Grove, Okla., woman who is accused of stealing more than $60,000 from her former employer was bound over for trial after a brief hearing Wednesday.

Michelle Crowder, 40, is charged in McDonald County Circuit Court with one count of stealing for allegedly embezzling about $62,600 from Roper Gas Co., of Southwest City, over a two-year period. Her husband, Kenneth Crowder, is a county commissioner in Delaware County, Okla.

Peter Zouraeff, owner of Roper Gas Co., was the only witness to testify during Crowder’s 15-minute preliminary hearing.

Zouraeff testified that Crowder, who had been with the company since 2003, was fired in July after she admitted to stealing money from the company.

He said he noticed that the accounts-receivable list was large and excessive, so he asked Crowder to send out delinquent notices.

When the notices didn’t cause the list to shrink, “Michelle came to me saying she had to talk to me. That’s when she admitted to taking the money,” Zouraeff testified.

Zouraeff testified that Crowder was keeping two sets of books. A probable-cause affidavit filed at the time of Crowder’s arrest states that she had inflated the accounts receivable to $78,671.26 when they really were only $16,038.27.

Ray Gordon, assistant prosecuting attorney, asked Zouraeff if he knew where the money was spent.

“She did not tell me what she did with the money,” Zouraeff said. “She said she didn’t know what she did with the money.”

Zouraeff testified that Crowder also stole about $30,000 before 2005, but that she made full restitution on the condition that the theft not be reported to police.

Arraignment date