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Woman charged with stealing $1M from Johnson County, KS court

Johnson County Courthouse
Posted at 10:43 AM, Mar 10, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-10 11:43:45-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former accounting supervisor with the Johnson County, Kansas, District Court is facing federal charges for embezzling more than $1 million.

Federal prosecutors last week charged Dawna Kellogg with 8 counts of wire fraud and three counts of making and subscribing to a false federal tax return for crimes alleged to have occurred between January 2007 and June 2017.

In a March 4 court filing, prosecutors allege the scheme involved Kellogg stealing incoming cash payments meant for the court’s bank account and diverting them to her own personal accounts.

Prosecutors say bail bond payments were among the transactions that Kellogg allegedly intercepted, a total amount that prosecutors estimate to be more than $1 million.

As part of the March 4 filing, prosecutors allege that when Kellogg filed her personal tax returns in 2015, 2016 and 2017, she did not report the stolen funds as taxable income.

If convicted, prosecutors are seeking to recoup the $1 million allegedly stolen by Kellogg.

In January, KSHB 41 reported an investigation was underwayover irregularities involving taxpayer money at the Johnson County District Court Clerk’s office.

At the time, a court administrator said accounting irregularities had been discovered and that federal authorities had been alerted.

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