The former manager of American Legion Post 89 in Blue Earth is charged with stealing more than $40,000 from the patriotic organization for U.S. war veterans.
Michael Dean Olivo, 51, of Blue Earth faces one felony count of theft-divert corporate property and a felony charge of forgery-destroy/mutilate-records/documents with no authority.
The theft charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, while the forgery charge has a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
According to a criminal complaint, Blue Earth Police Department received a report of stolen property from Post 89 on April 4. Two days later, Olivo was fired.
Officer Missy Felion met with Legion officers, says the complaint, who told her that substantial amount of funds appeared to have been diverted from the bar cash tills prior to deposit over a period of about 19 months beginning in September of 2022.
Legion officers told authorities that Olivo was solely responsible for collecting cash and funds from the bar’s two tills and depositing the money on a daily basis.
After realizing a prolonged period of financial difficulty, says the complaint, Legion officials asked their accountant to review till and deposit records.
A review of daily “Z” reports for both tills compared to daily deposits prepared and made by Olivo, according to the complaint, show that funds from the till were routinely not being deposited into bank accounts.
Court papers say that Olivo frequently omitted one of the “Z” reports in an apparent effort to conceal the bar’s true daily income.
The complaints says because “Z” reports include year-to-date totals, a careful examination of the deposit statements and the reports show that between September 2022 and April 6, 2024, Olivo did not deposit $40,742 of till money into Post 89’s banking accounts.
Olivo is scheduled to make his first court appearance on July 22 in Faribault County District Court before Judge Troy Timmerman.