Former Ickler GM Pleads Guilty to Theft-By-Swindle Charge
ST. CLOUD -- The former general manager at Ickler Company in St. Cloud has pleaded guilty to spending thousands of dollars on the company credit card without permission. Fifty-eight-year-old Mark Held of Sartell pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft-by-swindle last week.
Court records show Held charged non-work related expenses between December 2008 and November 2015. Some of the credit card charges included plane tickets to Florida, restaurants, iTunes, a $1,100 Apple Watch and computer charges.
Records also show $9,258 in charges at the St. Cloud Country Club for dinners, bar charges, equipment, golf lessons and cart rentals.
After discovering the unauthorized charges, the owner confronted Held over what amounted to $25,516. Held said he had made some personal purchases totaling that amount, that it got out of hand, but he would pay it back.
Further audits discovered the total amount was $81,455.
Held told investigators he was taken by surprise when the owner confronted him about the Apple Watch and five plane tickets to Florida. He said he didn't think the company's owner would have a problem with him making those purchases.
Held will be sentenced July 9th.