Woman accused of embezzling, begging not to call police

A local casino worker is accused of embezzling more than $45,000 and then begging casino operators not to notify police.

Kyra Lynne Gerber is charged with two counts of theft by embezzlement by a common scheme, a felony.

Court charging documents say that on Sept. 19, one of the operators of Crystal City Casino and Hi-Line Gold Casino, Lacey Farmer, called the Havre Police Department to report that an employee who worked at both casinos was stealing money.

Farmer said Gerber had been working for the casinos for about seven or eight years and had been bookkeeper for the past two or three years. Farmer told officers she found out that June and July’ deposits were late, and as of Sept. 18, the deposit for August had not been completed.

Documents say Farmer told police that Gerber brought the deposit bags into Crystal City Casino, turned her key and employer-branded shirt in that day.

“Gerber told Farmer someone else needed to take over the bookkeeping tasks; that she, Gerber, was overwhelmed; and that Gerber knew she was in trouble,” documents say.

Farmer and Tracy McCracken, another operator of the business, went through the bags and “noted there were large sums of money missing,” the documents say.

After an officer obtained copies of deposit slips, the officer concluded that the Crystal City Casino was missing a total of $38,890 from the deposit bags, the ATM and the safe, and Hi-Line Gold Casino was missing a total of $6,640 from deposit bags and the ATM. The total amount missing, documents say, was $45,530 beginning Aug. 14.

Charging documents say Gerber wrote Farmer and McCracken a letter, “begging them not to notify the police of the thefts.”

“Gerber’s letter stated she took the money because she had outstanding medical bills and was trying to keep a roof over her children’s heads,” the documents say.

Gerber is scheduled for arraignment Dec. 19.