By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — A Noel woman who served as treasurer for what was the Humane Society for Newton and McDonald counties has been charged with embezzling almost $90,000 from the organization over a three-year period.
Patsy L. LeSueur, 55, was free after posting bond late Wednesday afternoon, according to Newton County authorities. She was charged with one count of Class B felony theft after allegedly writing herself 48 checks totaling more than $89,812 from funds that had been set aside by the New-Mac Regional Humane Society for construction of an animal shelter, according to Neosho police Chief Dave McCracken. Neosho police conducted the investigation because the bank with the organization’s account is in Neosho.
LeSueur had been serving as the organization’s secretary and treasurer.
She also is the city clerk for Noel and the wife of former McDonald County sheriff’s Deputy Mike LeSueur.
Karla Meador, the Noel city collector, said that as of Wednesday, Patsy LeSueur was still employed with the city but was on a leave of absence. Patsy LeSueur has been on a leave of absence since Saturday, Meador said, and then referred other questions to Mayor Paul Gardner.
A phone message left for Gardner at his home was not returned.
Gregg Sweeten, chief deputy for the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department, said Mike LeSueur left the department several months ago to become an international police adviser for Civpol, which has been training the emergent Iraqi police force. Mike LeSueur also was listed as a member of the Humane Society’s board of directors on its last annual report filed in December 2005.
The Globe’s efforts to reach both of the LeSueurs for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In a probable-cause affidavit filed with the complaint, Neosho police Detective Michael Whitehead wrote that the New-Mac Regional Humane Society had never authorized Patsy LeSueur to issue checks for herself, and that it never had need for “supplies, travel expenses, or any other items she claimed in the memo portion of the checks.” Patsy LeSueur also admitted to Whitehead in an interview that she “was not authorized to make payments to herself, nor did she have the expenditures that she claimed,” according to the affidavit.
McCracken said he did not anticipate any further arrests in connection with the case.
The investigation began, according to court documents, when Neosho lawyer Dwight Douglas contacted authorities.
Douglas told the Globe on Wednesday that he is not a member of the society’s board of directors but that he was contacted by a member of the board who had concerns about the group’s finances. He declined to identify the board member. Douglas said he then asked the bank to examine the financial records, whereupon it found discrepancies. Douglas said he then contacted authorities.
The New-Mac Regional Humane Society was incorporated as a nonprofit entity in 2002, according to online records from the Missouri secretary of state. It was technically dissolved by the state in late December 2006 because an annual report had not be filed, although online records show that Patsy LeSueur contacted the secretary of state’s office about reinstating the organization as late as March 2007.
Duane Cooper, a Pineville lawyer and member of the society’s board of directors, said in a phone interview Wednesday that the organization has a new registered agent, and that plans call for the organization to be reinstated.
The organization had raised about $120,000 en route to a target goal of about $200,000, Cooper said. Plans called for part of the money to be used to construct the shelter, with the other part to finance operations until the shelter could become self-sustaining.
“This is, of course, a major setback for us,” Cooper said, noting that the organization would ask the Newton County prosecutor’s office to compel restitution.
Cooper said the society’s board of directors has not met for some time, but that it has continued raising money and making deposits. Although board members generally were aware of how much money had been raised, Cooper said, no monthly financial statements were circulated.
“We had always believed her to be trustworthy,” Cooper said of LeSueur, citing her credentials as a city official with Noel and a former legal secretary.
Cooper said the organization still plans to construct a “much-needed” animal shelter for the area.
Next up
A conference in the case of Patsy L. LeSueur has been set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Associate Division of Newton County Circuit Court.
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