Gambling debt may have fueled theft from tribe

A 46-year-old tribal member has been charged with theft for allegedly embezzling nearly $400,000 from the Tulalip Tribes' liquor store and smoke shop.

Angela Jones Ver Hoeven was a clerk at the store. A complaint filed in U.S. District Court alleged that she stole cash, often pocketing a few hundred dollars a day. A review of smoke-shop records showed that she was routinely failing to register multicarton sales of cigarettes, ringing up a single-carton sale and then pocketing the rest.

According to the charges, she pocketed as much as $396,043 over 32 months.

"Further investigation revealed that Ver Hoeven had significant gambling losses at the Quil Ceda Creek Casino during the year" before the thefts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The thefts were discovered in August 2010 when a customer called to ask for a receipt for four cartons of cigarettes she had purchased at the store's drive-through window. No entry for a four-carton sale was recorded that day, and the manager suspected a theft.

Investigators arranged an undercover sale of six cartons of cigarettes, and Ver Hoeven allegedly recorded that only a single carton was sold and kept the extra money, according to the charges.

The case was investigated by Tulalip Tribal Police and the FBI.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com