The former manager of Blue Earth American Legion Post 89 is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday, July 22, facing charges of theft and forgery.

Michael Dean Olivo, 51, of Blue Earth, is accused of diverting $40,742.30 in Legion funds for his personal use over a period of approximately 19 months.

According to court documents, on April 4, 2024, Blue Earth Police received a report of stolen property from the American Legion Post 89 in Blue Earth. Officer Missy Felion met with Legion officers, who reported that a substantial amount of funds appeared to have been diverted from the bar cash tills prior to deposit.

Officers explained that the theft was discovered after a prolonged period of financial difficulty. Officers further explained that employee and manager 51-year-old Michael Dean Olivo was solely responsible for collecting cash and funds from the bar tills and depositing that money on a daily basis.

The court documents go on to say that after realizing financial hardships, Post 89 asked its accountant to review till and deposit records. A review of daily reports from each till, compared to daily deposits prepared and made by Olivo, indicated that funds from the till were routinely not being deposited into the bank accounts. Further, numerous daily reports included with the daily deposit records failed to include reports from both tills.

After careful review of the deposit statements and reports, it was revealed that between September 2022 and April 6th, 2024, Olivo allegedly failed to deposit $40,742.30 of till funds into Post 89’s banking accounts and he failed to report any suspicious till activity.

Olivo was discharged from employment on April 6, 2024.

Olivo faces a charge of theft of property of a value of more than $30,000, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years or $100,000 fine or both and a charge of forgery-destroy or mutilate records or documents with a maximum sentence of 3 years or up to $5,000 fine or both.