GREAT FALLS — A man has been charged with two felonies in connection with alleged embezzlement from the Alumni Club in Great Falls.
Court documents state that the owners hired Kevin Bray to be the bar manager and gave him full reign of the bar and its finances.
One of the owners admitted that he and the other owners did not oversee the bar very thoroughly and "instilled trust into Bray to operate the business."
One of the owners explained that he and the other owners discovered that Bray may have been embezzling money from the Alumni Club for the past two years and believed that Bray had stolen approximately $36,000.
According to one of the owners, Bray admitted that he was embezzling and agreed to pay him back, and in return, asked the owners to not report it to law enforcement, according to the charging documents.
An officer attended a meeting at the Alumni Club on Jan. 5 where three of the four business owners were present.
During the meeting, one co-owner explained that during December 2019, financial reports were completed, which showed that $36,000 was missing from the Alumni Club.
The owners stated that Bray was the only individual that was in charge of the money; therefore, he was responsible for the missing $36,000.
According to the co-owner, Bray openly admitted via e-mail that he took $36,000 from the Alumni Club but planned to pay the money back.
Court documents state: "At this point, it is clear that Kevin appears to have used deception to deprive (John Doe) of $25,000. (Jim Roe) stated that Kevin told him that he owned 60% of the Alumni Club and that he and (Doe) could both become the majority owners with $50,000. Additionally, Kevin stated that he would put $25,000 toward the buyout if (Doe) put $25,000 toward the buyout; however, the buyout was never an option. Further, Kevin appears to have used the $25,000 to prevent (Doe) from contacting law enforcement due to the embezzlement accusation."
According to the charging documents, one of the principals said that the company’s fourth owner ("Jane Roe") is in charge of the company' accounting and could provide police with the deposit slips where Bray put money into the Alumni Club account.
Police contacted Roe via phone, and she said she would provide him with documentation which shows that Bray actually embezzled approximately $47,000. Roe provided the documents to police.
The owners informed police that on Dec. 15 they held a meeting and decided that they were going to terminate Kevin because of the embezzlement.
On Dec. 16, Kevin was notified of his termination and was subsequently replaced by a new manager.
Bray has been charged with felony embezzlement and felony theft.
We have been told, but not yet been able to confirm, that Bray was booked into the Cascade County Detention Center and subsequently released on recognizance.
We have not yet been able to obtain a booking photo.
We will update you as we get more information.
