Preliminary Hearing In Embezzlement Case for Secretary and Treasurer of The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 2 in Grand Forks Scheduled For October

(KNOX) -The preliminary hearing for the secretary and treasurer of The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 2 in Grand Forks accused of embezzling has been scheduled. The hearing will happen on October 12 at 9am.

LaVonne Jack has been in that position for 25 years, and she has been charged with Class C felony theft for allegedly embezzling over $11,000.

The President of Lodge, Jason Dvorak put fraud alerts on all of the Lodge’s Gate City Bank accounts in March. Dvorak and Jack had been married and got divorced in 2022.

Dvorak received two fraud alert notifications from Jack’s debit card. Jack says she accidentally used the Lodge’s debit card to buy something from Walmart, and an affidavit says she said she would repay it.

Dvorak received another notification after that incident. He and Vice president of the Lodge, Jonathan Lampi say they found several unauthorized charges to places like Walmart, Hugo’s Family Marketplace and Sam’s Club.

After finding the unauthorized charges, Lampi contacted trustee David Buzzo, to help undergo an annual audit with Jack. He also discussed this matter with the North Dakota State Fraternal Order of Police Board, and they both came to the conclusion that Jack used the debit card to purchase personal items. Lampi also told the Grand Forks Police Department about the situation because Jack was employed in the police’s records department.

Lampi is also the treasurer for the North Dakota State FOP Board and he says the FOP Board was switching over to accounting software QuickBooks. The affidavit says that Jack did not keep records of the FOP accounts in the new software system.

Jack allegedly confessed to making personal purchases since last October. The affidavit states that she made the purchases to buy items for her children. She also apparently said that she stopped caring, while also saying that she could pay back all of the money and that she did not have a good excuse.

The affidavit states also that an investigation originally showed that Jack spent up to $1,300. A further investigation showed that she ended up spending a total of $11,329.19.

Jack was authorized to make purchases without needing approval, but she was not allowed to buy any items for personal use. Lampi believes Jack started using the card for personal purchases after she divorced Dvorak.

The charges were filed in the Northeast Central District Court in July, but the case is being prosecuted in Cass County.