The former business manager for the Salmon Creek Soccer Club made a first appearance Monday in Clark County Superior Court for allegedly stealing nearly $40,000 from the club over the last three years.
Michelle Lee Steiger, 44, appeared on suspicion of 53 counts of second-degree identity theft, three counts of first-degree theft and four counts of first-degree identity theft. She had been a volunteer with the club for more than 15 years and more recently served as the business manager for several years, court records show.
In November, the president of the soccer club reported to authorities that Steiger was replaced as business manager after parents and vendors complained of numerous financial mistakes and nonpayments. Steiger also had stopped attending board meetings and failed to provide financial reports, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
The board later discovered numerous electronic payments from the club’s bank account to Steiger’s personal bank account, the affidavit stated.
Steiger was responsible for signing up players and collecting their fees, paying club bills and managing the club’s account. Parents began reporting that they paid cash for their children’s soccer registration, but the children were not signed up as expected and there was no record of their payment.
The club’s new business manager found suspicious account activity and noted that there was a significant difference between the cash collections from registration records and the actual cash deposits into the account. There also were several payments to a coach whom the board didn’t recognize and suspected didn’t actually exist, according to court documents.
Acuity Forensics did an audit of the club’s financial records and found that between April 2013 and August 2015 Steiger made 55 transfers from the club’s bank account to her personal account, totaling $39,401.64, the affidavit said.
On Monday, Judge Gregory Gonzales set Steiger’s bail at $20,000. She will have to hire her own attorney.
Steiger will be arraigned May 13.
