The Quilter Who Stole Christmas Club Savings: Ledger, Lies, Lockup

The Quilter Who Stole Christmas Club Savings: Ledger, Lies, Lockup The locker held a ledger that listed $214,400 and 24 names, plus a warning written in a different hand: DO NOT OPEN YET - a single unlocked padlock on January 14, 2019, would unravel four years of trusted bookkeeping in a Millhaven quilting club. How did yearly payouts continue through 2017 when deposits and withdrawals were already mismatched, and who controlled the missing funds? In this episode, we tell how a community Christmas Club run through an LLC fell silent when payouts stopped, what a utilities check revealed in a west-side storage unit, and how household records and a later audit exposed discrepancies that affected livelihoods. Could one person’s access and accounting expertise have masked growing shortfalls? Person: Marie Lawson Date: January 14, 2019 Location: west-side storage unit, Millhaven Amount: $214,400 Members: 24 - The ledger showed a column totaling $214,400 alongside 24 names. - Millhaven has roughly 12,000 residents in Calder County. - Marie Lawson was 51 years old and had 15 years as a Farm Bureau office manager. - The Christmas Club paid out $198,000 in December 2017 after depositing $163,000 earlier that year, leaving a $35,000 gap. - Patricia Odom had $4,800 in the pool and Barbara Finch lost $6,200, forcing a loan restructuring. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].