A former employee and his wife have been hit with a formidable bill after being accused of stealing hefty amounts from an Anderson Township country club. The couple is now facing a court order to pay $4 million in total, which includes the stolen amount plus additional damages. Local12 reports that Kinley Brice Lee, the former controller at Coldstream Country Club, and his spouse, Katherine, were sued last November for supposedly embezzling over $800,000.
A national arrest warrant has been issued for Lee in a development that adds a layer of urgency. As per court records, Lee did not resume his post after a vacation, leading to an audit that exposed the missing funds, which totaled more than $871,000. This information was detailed in a statement obtained by FOX19.
The saga began to unfold when discrepancies prompted an examination of the club's finances. The lawsuit alleged Lee transferred substantial sums to his PayPal account using a work credit card and also forged checks for himself. It's claimed that Katherine Lee may have played a role in misappropriating funds, although the exact nature of her involvement remains unspecified.
Currently, multiple agencies are involved in the quest for justice, including the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office, and the U.S. Secret Service. The implicated pair is believed to have fled to Mexico, complicating their apprehension, as described by the club’s attorney, Christopher McDowell, in a FOX19 interview. Coldstream Country Club sits nestled in the lush grounds near Cincinnati and New Richmond off Asbury Road, typically a serene backdrop, now marred by this unfolding scandal.
