Fort Collins accountant pleads guilty to theft
Coloradoan
Sarah Jane Kyle
26 June 2016

Meredith Kanter

A Fort Collins accountant accused of stealing from two of her clients took plea deals in two criminal cases against her Monday.

Meredith Kanter, also known as Molly Hoff, appeared before Eighth Judicial District Judge Devin Odell Monday on 15 felony charges in two cases alleging she stole money from a Fort Collins nonprofit and a condo association. Kanter pleaded guilty to one count of theft in each case.

Her sentence will include probation and paying restitution to both clients, according to court proceedings Monday. Her sentencing is set to take place Aug. 14.

Kanter pleaded guilty to an amended count of theft, a Class 4 felony, in a case alleging she wrote herself five fraudulent checks from Windtrail Park Condo Association in 2016. According to Kanter's arrest affidavit, issued Dec. 20, Kanter's business was contracted for the association's bookkeeping services at the time and had been since April 2013.

Windtrail sought a third-party audit of its QuickBooks and bank accounts after learning of No Barriers' allegations against Kanter. Through the audit, the association identified five fraudulent checks totaling $6,587.34.

Kanter faced 11 felony charges in that case — one count of theft of $5,000 to $20,000; five counts of identify theft; and five counts of check forgery. The identity theft and check forgery charges were dismissed as part of her plea deal.

Kanter pleaded guilty to one count of theft, a Class 3 felony, in a case alleging she stole from local nonprofit No Barriers USA. Odell dropped three other charges in that case — one count of computer crime to commit theft of $20,000 or more; one count of computer crime to commit theft of $100,000 to $1 million; and one count of identity theft.

The nonprofit had also sued Kanter last summer for allegedly stealing $208,057.44 from its reserve funds, debit card and credit card accounts through more than 220 unauthorized transactions, including 106 transactions totaling $69,915.41 from one bank account between May 1, 2014 and Aug. 29, 2015.

The civil lawsuit was closed in November, when Kanter was ordered to pay No Barriers $150,000.

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