Gambling Addict Steals $38K from UPS Store

Woman pleads not guilty to stealing $38K from Missoula UPS Store

A woman charged with stealing nearly $40,000 from The UPS Store in downtown Missoula over a five-year period pleaded not guilty in District Court on Tuesday to two counts of felony theft.

Kathy Linde Bordner, a former employee, wrote checks on her children's bank accounts to cover daily cash withdrawals, altered the business's bank deposits and pocketed cash payments from customers to feed her gambling addiction, court records state.

The business's owner, Laura Vercruyssen, began investigating Bordner's activities after a customer complained of receiving failure-to-pay notices from the store. That customer repeatedly asked to see Bordner, believing her to be the owner.

Last May, Vercruyssen met several times with Missoula police officers, who recommended she try to document the thefts.

Within two days, Vercruyssen found evidence of around $6,000 having been stolen, court records state. Officers then advised her to hire a forensic accountant for a thorough vetting of her books.

The accountant, Heidi Foley, not only determined how much had been stolen - $38,861 - but also how it disappeared from The UPS Store till.

Among the schemes outlined in court records:

•Bordner allegedly used checks from her family's accounts, including her children's, to cover cash taken from bank deposits, or used customer checks she had been holding. That accounted for $8,977.
•Bordner allegedly wrote a high number of "cash paid outs" from the store till. Normally used for lunches or small office supplies, those payouts amounted to $2,868.
•Bordner allegedly falsified numerous returns and discounts paid to customers for merchandise and shipping services, when in fact the inventory was dwindling and the packages were shipped. That amounted to $14,729.
Interviewed by police, Bordner admitted to numerous incidences of theft, and claimed she had a severe gambling problem she was trying to hide from her husband.