Delay announced in PF embezzlement trial

COEUR d’ALENE — A jury trial for the director of a Post Falls nonprofit who’s accused of embezzling thousands of dollars was bumped off the April calendar and likely won’t be reset until June.

Attorneys asked Thursday in First District Court to continue a pretrial hearing 30 days, which would set the next hearing in late April, requiring the April 1 trial to be moved.

Alison McArthur, 48, who was arrested in October and has pled not guilty to one felony county of fraudulent use of a financial transaction card, has a right to a jury trial within six months of being charged. That’s according to speedy trial provisions.

McArthur, former executive director of the Post Falls Senior Center, is accused of misusing funds from the ailing organization’s bank accounts to repair her car, pay her personal telephone bills and pay for a 2016 trip to Disneyland, according to court records.

“While McArthur was at the Center she was in full control of the Center’s finances … toward the end, McArthur would not let anyone look at the books and (the board) purely went off what McArthur was telling (them),” wrote Post Falls Police Detective Kip Hollenbeck in his report.

Hollenbeck detailed unaccounted expenditures from financial statements, many in the $200 to $300 range. Some of the payments were later reimbursed.

McArthur has served on the Post Falls School Board, the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce and Post Falls Junior Miss. She ran the senior center for six years before being fired in 2016, when the allegations came to light. The center’s bingo license was revoked under McArthur’s watch three years earlier by the Idaho Lottery Commission over record-keeping violations, according to reports.

McArthur could waive her right to a speedy trial at her next hearing. If a jury finds her guilty, she could serve up to five years in prison and pay a $50,000 fine.

A trial date has not been set.