by Ivan Foley
Landmark editor
The employer from whom Karen Backues, local businesswoman, is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars has filed a civil lawsuit against Backues, her husband and their business.
While Karen Backues, operator of the Olive or Twist Liquor Stores in Platte City and in Liberty, remains in the Platte County Jail this week on a $50,000 cash-only bond for three counts of felony theft and three counts of felony forgery, she finds herself a defendant in the civil suit being brought by the software firm from whom she is accused of stealing.
The civil lawsuit brought by GBA Master Series, a software firm in Overland Park, Kan., lists defendants as Backues, 45, her husband Bryan Keil, 43, and Olive or Twist LLC.
Backues had served as the software firm’s chief financial officer until late January.
The software firm’s legal action seeks “damages and injunctive relief.” A docket call hearing in the civil case is set for May 10 in Platte County Circuit Court.
Though the criminal charges accuse Backues of stealing around $220,000, the civil suit claims she stole in excess of $800,000 from GBA.
Backues has been in custody since Feb. 2. She had a court appearance on the criminal charges Tuesday morning. At that hearing, Backues applied for legal assistance from the public defender’s office. However, the public defender said it appears Backues may not financially qualify for the public defender’s services and may need to hire a private attorney.
“If you don’t qualify you will have to hire a private attorney,” Judge James Van Amburg told Backues during Tuesday’s hearing.
Backues on Tuesday indicated to the court that she has already been trying to hire an attorney.
Backues appeared at the hearing in a jailhouse-issued orange jump suit. She was handcuffed. Her red hair was pulled back in a pony tail and her fingernails were painted a shade of red.
A decision on whether Backues qualifies for the public defender services is expected next Tuesday, Feb. 23 at a court hearing again to be held in front of Judge Van Amburg in Division IV of Platte County Circuit Court.
Authorities allege that between April 2009 and December 2009, GBA Master Series, Inc., a software company based in Overland Park, Kan, had a total of nine checks written without the knowledge of the president of the company, Donald Pinkston, and his signature was forged. The total loss from the nine checks was more than $220,000.
During the investigation, detectives discovered the checks were deposited into a joint checking account that belongs to Backues and her husband, Bryan Keil, at a Platte City bank.
Keil has not been charged in the criminal case.
DETAILS ALLEGED
IN LAWSUIT PETITION
The Landmark obtained a copy of the petition filed by GBA Master Series against Backues, her husband and Olive or Twist, LLC. The petition contains details of alleged activity that was not contained in the court papers filed in the criminal case.
The petition says Backues worked for GBA from August of 2003 until Jan. 28, 2010. Her duties included payroll, bookkeeping, and taxes that gave her access to all financial accounts, expense accounts, company checks and payroll of GBA.
Though Keil called The Landmark last week to say his wife is not an owner of the Olive or Twist Liquor Stores, remarking that she is “not listed on the LLC,” the lawsuit says that “upon information and belief, defendant Backues and defendant Keil are both partial owners of defendant Olive or Twist, and Backues and Keil are employed by and involved in the management and day to day operations of Olive or Twist, which includes handling the finances and accounting” for the liquor stores.
Backues has long been described as an owner in media reports over the past several years, and as recently as November was listed as owner in a Sun Tribune article about the opening of the Liberty location.
The lawsuit alleges that Backues filtered part of the $800,000 to herself and Keil for their personal use, and part to Olive or Twist. “Defendant Olive or Twist benefited through the use of this money to operate the day-to-day business activities,” the suit claims.
Also, the civil suit alleges that Backues has transferred certain stolen amounts of the money to a bank account in Minnesota. The criminal allegations only mentioned money deposited into a Platte City bank.
GBA says Backues wrote company checks made payable to herself, forging the signature of the company president. The suit also alleges Backues used GBA’s credit cards for personal use without authorization.
“Backues also altered the accounting ledger and books of GBA in order to manipulate GBA’s payroll by crediting pre-paid accounts in her name with more than she was owed pursuant to her salary agreement, all in an attempt to hide (the) wrongful, fraudulent, and deceitful acts in stealing money from GBA,” the suit states.
It also accuses Backues of writing and signing GBA checks made payable to Olive or Twist, and in her own name, to use for the operation of the liquor stores.
The suit alleges Backues, Keil and Olive or Twist “acted in concert regarding the matters described in the complaint, and each of the defendants are therefore jointly and severally liable” to GBA on the claims asserted in the lawsuit.
GBA is asking for judgment in its favor against the defendants, including prejudgment interest, GBA’s attorneys’ fees and costs, and for “other relief the court deems just.”
The lawsuit alleges the actions of the defendants continued for at least three years prior to Backues being terminated from GBA. The petition states GBA had no knowledge of the alleged fraudulent scheme until Jan. 28, 2010.
In August, Backues and her Olive or Twist store were featured in an article in Chromed Out Magazine. The article, entitled Bikes, Babes & Booze, included photos of Backues in a low cut leather top, bending over a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
In that magazine article containing the byline of Backues and Keil, Backues described herself as the “chief financial officer for a small in-house infrastructure software developer located in Overland Park, Kan.”
“I am probably one of the most ‘non-traditional’ bean counters you will ever encounter,” Backues said in the magazine. “That’s code for high strung red head. I love my job and the people I work with and have no desire to quit anytime soon.”
The magazine article reported Backues and Keil have five children.
A search of other court records by The Landmark shows that the Missouri Department of Revenue--Collection Enforcement filed for a tax lien against Backues back in December. On Feb. 1, a satisfaction of judgment was granted to the Department of Revenue in that case.
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