Former Accountant at Snow King Mountain, WY, Accused of Embezzling over $45,000 from Resort

"Ketelsen is accused of stealing from the resort's electronic payments system, involving vendor payments and direct deposit records, according to court documents. Ketelsen had been running this scheme for months. He has been charged with felony theft and two counts of felony forgery. He waived his May 7 preliminary hearing, bypassing the stage at which a judge reviews whether enough evidence exists to bring the case to trial."

"Investigators say Ketelsen uploaded "a batch of invoices" ten times with the correct amount of $132,858.32. But on the 11th upload, the invoice amount suddenly increased to $153,358.32. Investigators suggest that Ketelsen manually added $20,500 to the invoice, which was later paid to a different account. Just days later, Ketelsen sent the same invoice to both the general manager and the resort's chief financial officer, who both approved the invoice."

"The same invoice was then paid twice, and one of the payments went to an account linked to Ketelsen. Court records place the total amount tied to Ketelsen's fraudulent activity at $45,754.88. After returning from a trip to Brazil, Ketelsen was met by detectives in his office where he was placed under arrest. Ketelsen did not speak to law enforcement."

"Ketelsen is currently out on $50,000 bond. He is deemed a flight risk due to frequent trips to Panama, Brazil, and Colombia. Ketelsen is expected to enter a plea deal as the case heads to district courts. If convicted on all"

A former accountant at Snow King Mountain Resort in Jackson, Wyoming faces felony theft and two counts of felony forgery for alleged embezzlement exceeding $45,000. Court documents accuse him of manipulating the resort’s electronic payments system, including vendor payments and direct deposit records, over several months. Investigators say he submitted the same batch of invoices multiple times, then increased an invoice amount by $20,500 on a later upload, with the added funds paid to an account linked to him. The same invoice was allegedly sent to the general manager and chief financial officer, who approved it, after which the invoice was paid twice, with one payment routed to his linked account. The total tied to the alleged activity is $45,754.88. He waived a preliminary hearing, was arrested after returning from Brazil, and is out on $50,000 bond.

Read at SnowBrains