ORTING, Wash. — The former executive director of an Orting Valley nonprofit is facing charges of money laundering, theft and identity theft after she allegedly stole nearly $200,000 from her place of work.
Court documents detail how the money was used for trips to Las Vegas, tens of thousands of dollars in Amazon purchases and over $20,000 in cash withdrawals, among other expenses.
Rena Kay Thompson was the executive director for the Recovery Café in Orting, a nonprofit helping people struggling with an array of issues, including addiction, homelessness, violence, mental health concerns and trauma, according to the organization's website.
As part of her job, Thompson was supposed to maintain accounting records for the nonprofit using QuickBooks beginning in 2019. An outside bookkeeper retained by the organization in 2022 began noticing "anomalies in the bookkeeping," according to court documents. The employee initially brought her concerns to Thompson, who then went to the board and requested that the bookkeeper be fired.
The bookkeeper reported to the board that she could not reconcile the organization's accounts, and also found accounts and loans taken out in the Recovery Cafe's name which had not been reported.
An audit by the Recovery Cafe's treasurer and executive administrator that began in May of 2023 uncovered multiple accounts opened and loans taken out, all of which had been done without the board's approval, according to court documents. This included a BECU account, two KeyBank accounts, a Capital One account and two OnDeck loans. After reviewing the accounts, the audit found multiple cash withdrawals, payments for personal expenses and payments to former employees, according to court documents.
When the board brought up these accounts to Thompson via email, she said that she would fix the accounting errors, adding that she had "not been as detail oriented on the financials as I should have been." Thompson shot back that the board had exceeded its authority by not allowing her to choose the employees who would complete the financial audit.
Though the board requested the information for the accounts and loans Thompson had allegedly opened, by Aug. 7, she still had not provided information for the Capital One account, a BECU account and one OnDeck loan. Simultaneously, the board learned that Thompson had not paid taxes she was responsible for paying on behalf of the organization.
Thompson resigned from her position on Aug. 12.
An audit of the accounts that Thompson allegedly opened in the Recovery Cafe's name identified $190,300.28 in improperly used funds.
Warrants revealed that the accounts were allegedly used for Thompson's personal expenses, including trips to Las Vegas, a mattress, a pool, over $31,000 in Amazon purchases, $6,000 in CashApp transfers to Thompson, $23,000 in cash withdrawals and payments for personal counseling, according to court documents.
The OnDeck loans, opened in the Recovery Cafe's name, were intended for short-term, high interest business loans. Thompson allegedly took out over $150,000 in the loans, some with interest rates of up to 70%.
In a statement, the Orting Valley Recovery Café said:
"On behalf of Recovery Café Orting Valley and its Board of Directors, we want to assure our community, donors, and stakeholders that we have been and continue to fully cooperate with all investigative matters with regard to the criminal case involving Recovery Café Orting Valley's former Executive Director.
Our commitment to serving and supporting our community remains unwavering, our vital work continues without interruptions.
Recovery Café Orting Valley remains focused on our mission of curating a place of healing and support for all individuals. We now leave the matter in the hands of the judicial system."
Charges against Thompson were filed in Pierce County Superior Court on April 17.
"It was heartbreaking," said Tony Kagochi, current director of Recovery Cafe of Orting Valley.
He took over after Thompson's resignation.
Kagochi said the board took steps to ensure directors can no longer open accounts without approval.
”It really crushed us because as a small agency, you know the people you work with on a personal level," said Kagochi, "We're very nice, right, we’re very accepting of people. We meet people where they’re at. That can be a fault at some times because we want to believe in the good in people.”