Image from the Otter Tail County Website
Rothsay, MN – A former Rothsay City Clerk-Treasurer has been charged with stealing over $48,000 from the City and its residents.
According to court documents, 37-year-old Lisa Marie Zimmerman has been accused of taking utility payments and not depositing the full cash amounts into the City’s accounts.
In February 2023, city officials told law enforcement that they had noticed a drop in utility deposits starting in September 2019, despite no changes being made to how they collected and handled payments. The drop continued until Zimmerman separated employment in September 2022 and in the following 18 months, cash deposits increased by $9,000, eight times the amount collected in 2020 and 2021 combined.
Investigators found that between February 2020 and August 2022, there were 181 instances where utility payments were recorded, but no check numbers were entered or cash deposited. These payments totaled $38,413.87.
Zimmerman is also accused of issuing a $3,000 check from the City’s General Fund, cashing it and deleting the check from records, as well as collecting fundraiser money for a local resident fighting cancer, but never sending the money to the resident and instead depositing the donations into her own account.
Officials say that in total, Zimmerman stole $48,068.85. When speaking with Wilkin County deputies, Zimmerman was adamant that she did not take money from the City or from the cancer benefit, but she could not provide any explanations for the missing funds.
Zimmerman has been charged with 10 counts of Felony Theft. She made her first court appearance December 2nd and is set to return to court on January 14th, 2025.
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