In late March, Marat Shkandin, the outgoing president of the Old Town Association, requested the organization’s last 12 bank statements from Traci Koelzer, the group’s longtime treasurer.
When the time came for his successor to take over, Shkandin wanted the process to be smooth, which is why he requested a full accounting of the group’s finances before he left.
However, Shkandin said there was an additional motive in seeking the bank records from Koelzer. One of Shkandin’s employees at Little Moo’s Gourmet Market, the business he owns in Old Town, had heard reports that the Iron Horse Inn, which employed Koelzer at the time, had become suspicious that Koelzer was embezzling money. Shkandin said he doubted the accusation.
Since Shkandin had taken over at OTA in August, he had worked closely with Koelzer, but nonetheless requested the bank statements.
In mid-April, Shkandin was out of town when he discovered that Koelzer had left town, and that Koelzer had told the hotel that her leaving was due to a family emergency.
“And then she, of course, never came back,” Shkandin said.
When Shkandin returned to Cottonwood, he filed a police report and discovered that close to $20,000 had been withdrawn from the Old Town Association bank account.
“I trusted Traci [Koelzer],” Shkandin said. “She was the hardest working member of the OTA.”
Shkandin’s role at OTA was primarly focused on leadership and branding, and Koelzer handled many of the day-to-day operations. In hindsight, Shkandin said this may have given Koelzer the perfect opportunity to commit fraud.
“She is the only person that had access to the OT bank account,” Shkandin said. “She is the only one who had the ability to withdraw funds.”
The Cottonwood Police Department has named Koelzer as the lead suspect in the investigation.
“Her whereabouts are unknown at this time,” wrote the department in a press release on May 17. “We are actively looking for Koelzer.”
Beyond the money taken out of the OTA bank accounts this year, Koelzer is suspected to have embezzled small amounts of money for years. Therefore, the full fraud amount is not yet known.
According to the Cottonwood Police Department, the total amount could be as high as $100,000.
In response to the incident, some Old Town businesses expressed frustration with how the OTA monitors its finances.
“There’s no oversight,” said Ellen Van Wert, co-owner of Jim and Ellen’s Rock Shop in Old Town. “There’s no accountability.”
In response to the community’s input on the matter, Shkandin said that he takes accountability for the unforeseen incident.
“It’s hard for the OTA not to take a black eye on this,” he said. “With the OTA, we’re not a business. We don’t have continuous transactions going in and out, so in reality our bank account should have maybe one or two transactions a month total. It’s not like anybody needs to oversee this account because there shouldn’t be money flowing in and out of it anyway unless you assume someone’s stealing.”
According to Brenda Clouston, OTA board member and owner of Colt Grill in Old Town, members of the OTA look forward to resolving the incident of fraud, so that the Old Town Association can get back to work. “There’s a strong desire to keep some sort of organization in place,” Clouston said. “All the merchants are really passionate about supporting Old Town. We understand this has been a difficult time but want to move forward with a positive agenda.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 282-7795 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
