Fish Lake Township the next mark?

Appearing in the 1/19/2008 Cambridge, Minnesota, STAR newspaper "Area Crime Report," Chisago County Sheriff section, is the name of “Crystal Lee Guse.” Crystal, of Harris, Minnesota, is the wife of the only full-time Fish Lake Township maintenance worker, Gary Guse, Jr. On the surface, the crime report entry “writing a worthless check” appears rather unremarkable, perhaps just an unfortunate circumstance for Crystal. However; the true story is revealed in Chisago County criminal court file #13-CR-07-2454.

According to the criminal complaint, Crystal obtained employment in June 2007 with “Nature Rental Properties, LLC” of Forest Lake, MN. In mid-July, she began creating and forging computer-generated company checks made payable to herself. This continued until mid-August when she abruptly quit her job. Court records show Crystal created and forged 9 checks for a total amount of $12,535.55.

Crystal was subsequently charged with “offering a forged check–value greater than $2,500 in violation of 609.631 Subd. 3; 609.631 Subd. 4(2)” which is punishable by up to “10 years imprisonment and/or $20,000 fine.”

The court record summary states; “On or about July 12, 2007–August 15, 2007, Defendant, with intent to defraud, offered or possessed with intent to offer, a forged check(s), in an amount greater than $2,500, whether or not it was accepted, namely check number(s) nine checks in an amount(s) of totaling 12,535.55. These offenses occurred in Chisago County and Washington County, Minnesota.”

On a converging front, at the April 2007 Fish Lake Township monthly meeting, the two attending township supervisors (Bob Carter and Bob Cupit) voted to re-key the town hall, shop and garage, to keep township assets “safe.” The supervisors’ decision was, in part, prompted by an unsubstantiated complaint from Gary Guse, Jr. himself, who claimed to have witnessed an unauthorized person rifling through the clerk’s desk in her absence. The two supervisors also voted to provide new building keys to only the township employees; groundskeeper, hired clerk, and maintenance worker (Gary Guse, Jr.). Township supervisors would no longer have access to township records or equipment unless a hired employee accompanied them. Township employees would be “managed” using the hands off concept of “self-directed work activities,” a situation subsequently likened by others to “the nuts running the asylum.”

Will Fish Lake Township taxpayers be horrified and outraged when they discover and make the connection of Crystal Lee Guse to Gary Guse, Jr.? Considering the facts, would an investigative audit of Fish Lake Township be prudent? Does the township of ~2100 residents even maintain and manage an asset list? Are the township records and assets truly protected, or has Fish Lake Township unwittingly poised itself to be ............ the next “mark?”