The former financial director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho has been jailed since December on suspicion she stole money from a Georgia food bank, and investigators believe she may also be responsible for bilking the Hayden-based nonprofit of more than $50,000 before that.
Julie Anne Nutter, 54, has been in custody in the Bibb County Jail since Dec. 6, facing 11 counts of felony theft, according to court records.
The Macon Telegraph newspaper reported last week that the charges stem from suspicions Nutter used the credit card of the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank to make fraudulent purchases at businesses that included a body waxing studio, a spa, a tire store and “an Idaho flower shop.”
Nutter took the job in Georgia after a nearly three-year stint with the Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho, which she left in June 2017.
Investigative reports filed by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office indicate that officials in Hayden raised concerns in December 2017 about potential thefts totaling $57,045.
Nutter, who served as the nonprofit’s chief financial officer, was suspected as the only employee who could have stolen the cash.
Investigators believe she deposited money into her own accounts rather than those belonging to Habitat for Humanity after examining the nonprofit’s books and bank accounts belonging to Nutter.
The investigation took nearly two years. A Kootenai County warrant was issued for Nutter’s arrest in November. By then, she had left the Georgia food bank.
The Kootenai County district court case against Nutter was placed under seal, according to the clerk’s office.
James Casper, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho, declined in an email to comment on the “ongoing legal issues” surrounding Nutter, citing the advice of legal counsel.
Casper also said that once Habitat for Humanity alerted the sheriff’s office to the fraud, it was asked by law enforcement not to make any public statements so as not to interrupt an ongoing criminal investigation.
The food bank based in Macon, Georgia, where Nutter previously worked, issued a statement indicating a background check conducted before she started her employ there raised no red flags and that insurance would likely cover the losses.
Investigative documents in Georgia did not say how much money is believed to have been stolen from the food bank….
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/25/investigators-former-financial-chief-at-north-idah/