UPDATE: Woman ordered to pay $213K in restitution to Albert Lea housing agency

(ABC 6 News) – Marcie Marie Thumann was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, three years’ supervised release, or probation, and $213,217 in restitution by United States District Judge David S. Doty Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.

Thumann, a former bookkeeper for the Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), pocketed cash rent payments and altered payee information online between Jan. 2010 and July 2018, resulting in at least $213, 217 in stolen funds, according to her plea agreement.

RELATED: Woman charged with stealing $213K from Albert Lea housing agency – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com

Thumann pleaded guilty to the charge in October of 2022.

According to court documents, Thumann has been released pending her prison sentence, which must begin on or before Sept. 21, 2023.

(ABC 6 News) – An Albert Lea woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 in tenant rent payments.

According to court documents, between January 2010 and July 18, 2018, Marcie Marie Thumann, 44, worked as a bookkeeper for the Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), a government program that received both federal and state funding to remedy the shortage of available low-incoming housing units. At the beginning of each month, the HRA’s computer system generated a rent-due balance for each tenant. Thumann, who was responsible for recording and reconciling payments to the HRA, received tenants’ rent payments via cash, check, or money order.

During her tenure as the HRA’s bookkeeper, Thumann routinely embezzled HRA rent payments for her own personal use and benefit. She did so by pocketing cash payments and altering the payee information on payments made by check and money order. Thumann also manipulated the HRA’s computer system to conceal the money she stole, avoid detection, and prolong her fraud scheme. In total, Thumann stole at least $213,217 in tenant payments.

Thumann pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court before Senior Judge David S. Doty to one count of theft from program receiving federal funds. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time.  

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of the Inspector General and the Albert Lea Police Department.