Former trustee sentenced in theft, fraud case

PERU — A former Clay Township trustee who pleaded guilty earlier this year for putting township funds into her personal account was recently sentenced to two-and-a-half years in the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Khristie Worl will spend that time on probation, according to court records, after the executed portion of the sentence was suspended.

Worl was arrested in March 2023 on five separate counts related to the investigation, including a level 5 felony charge of corrupt business, two level 6 felony charges of theft, a level 6 felony charge of fraud and a level 6 felony charge of official misconduct, according to court documents.

However, per terms of the plea agreement, Worl pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and one count of fraud.

The other charges were dismissed at sentencing.

Those charges stem from an investigation that began by the Indiana State Board of Accounts in early 2023, indicating Worl had “written checks from the trustee account to herself without an explanation on the checks,” per a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, indicating a total liability from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2022, of $41,800.

Early in the investigation, a State Board of Accounts field examiner provided investigators a spreadsheet of all Clay Township financial transactions for the years 2019-2021, which showed that Worl — who reportedly made $3,600 per year — overcompensated herself by $600 in both 2019 and 2021, per court documents.

On Feb. 23, 2023, a search warrant was requested and granted for all of Worl’s township financial records and accounts through Jan. 1, 2019, to Feb. 23, 2023, according to the affidavit.

That documentation was officially provided March 9, 2023, per court documents, and they revealed Worl wrote 14 checks from the Clay Township trustee’s checking account in 2021, payable to Worl, totaling $14,200.

The checks were endorsed with Worl’s signature, and investigators said 12 of those checks were deposited into Worl’s personal checking account, court documents indicated.

Investigators in the affidavit also noted that was well above Worl’s reported salary.

In 2022, authorities said Worl wrote 21 checks from the trustee’s checking account, again payable to herself, for the amount of $30,000, court records noted.

As was the case in 2021, Worl reportedly endorsed the checks with her signature, and they were deposited into Worl’s personal checking account, according to court documents.

During the investigation, authorities interviewed a Clay Township board member knowledgeable of the township’s funds, and that person reportedly told investigators the board questioned Worl concerning some of the expenditures, per the affidavit.

However, no one ever observed the checks personally written to Worl, court documents noted.

As part of the investigation, Worl sat down for an interview with police at the Miami County Sheriff’s Office.

During that interview, authorities say Worl admitted to depositing Clay Township funds into her personal account, according to the affidavit, stating she was “having financial hardships and intended to reimburse the township when she was able to obtain a personal loan.”

Along with her two-and-a-half-year sentence, Worl is also required to pay restitution to the Clerk of Courts for her role in the case.

She is expected to pay Clay Township $6,713.59, according to court records, while the Indiana State Board of Accounts in Indianapolis will receive $19,380.

The court also ordered a civil judgement against Worl and in favor of Auto-Owners Insurance Company for $41,092, court records indicate.

Upon successful completion of probation and restitution, court officials noted Worl’s sentence can be modified to a Class A misdemeanor.