The former director of the Post Falls Senior Center is facing a felony fraud charge after allegedly using her employer’s funds to pay for personal expenses.
Alison McArthur, 48, is charged with fraudulent use of a bank card. According to court documents, McArthur used the Senior Center’s credit card and funds to pay for personal car repairs and expenses related to a trip to Disneyland. The charges occurred during 2016 when she was the center’s executive director. McArthur was later fired from the job in November of last year.
Board members at the senior center became suspicious when they began reviewing the non-profit’s books earlier this year. The center had been having “money troubles,” court documents state. Leaders then discovered that some money was missing and suspected that McArthur was to blame.
During her time with the non-profit, McArthur was responsible for keeping the center’s books and was able to collect mail there, too. She had access to a credit card in the Senior Center’s name that was to be used for business expenses. “I was informed McArthur handled all the finances and towards the end would not let anyone look at the books,” a Kootenai County Sheriff’s detective wrote in a report.
Expenses that had been flagged by Senior Center leaders included more than $300 in auto repairs and Verizon cell phone bills for McArthur’s personal account.
Court documents say several charges related to a Disneyland trip McArthur took with her family in 2016. They included a $295 charge for Disneyland tickets, a $254 Southwest Airlines flight, a $983 charge at the Desert Palms Suites hotel in Anaheim, and a $285 rental car.
A detective would later find photos McArthur had uploaded to Facebook that coincided with the credit card charges.
When questioned by detectives, McArthur indicated that construction work had prevented her from taking the Disneyland trip when she desired. “McArthur stated yes she did go to Disneyland and that the reason was during construction, she was not able to take her vacation,” the detective wrote in his report. “McArthur stated if she needs to pay it back then tell her and she would figure out how to come up with the money.”
In reference to renting the car while at Disneyland and paying for it with the Senior Center card, McArthur stated she “screwed up.”
According to other reports, McArthur faces up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted. McArthur had previously served on the Post Falls School Board and the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce.