A former employee with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is accused of embezzling more than $90,000 and has been charged with felony theft, according to the sheriff’s office.
Nicole Fister, 36, of Kalispell was charged in Flathead County District Court on May 8. The charges stem from alleged embezzlement from the sheriff’s office employees association, a nonprofit organization made up of non-management employees. The association’s funds accrue from membership dues and fundraising and go toward supporting charitable causes.
Fister was a civilian employee of the sheriff’s office and the treasurer of the civilian employees association. She had been employed at the office for the last nine years.
Officials from the Flathead County Sheriff Detective division and Flathead County Attorney’s Office began investigating in mid-April. Fister’s employment was terminated immediately upon the discovery of the alleged theft, according to the sheriff’s office.
The amount of the theft has yet to be determined pending forensic audits of the accounts, but will exceed $90,000, according to the sheriff’s office. No public or sheriff’s office funds were the subject of theft.