Former Farm Bureau Secretary Charged With Embezzlement
A former secretary for the Blaine-Camas Farm Bureau office in Bellevue is charged with embezzling more than $35,000 from the organization over a four-year period. The Idaho Mountain Express reports that 59-year-old Judith G. Shurtz was arraigned this week in 5th District Court on a felony charge of grand theft by embezzlement. She pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for January 2012. Blaine County prosecutors charge she fraudulently wrote about 90 checks to herself between February 2006 and May 2010. An internal audit by the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation discovered the alleged thefts. The case was investigated for about a year before Shurtz was charged in May. She remains free on $5,000 bond.