COID worker, accused of $200K in thefts, takes own life

A Central Oregon Irrigation District employee, recently fired after being accused of stealing about $200,000, has died by suicide, the district’s customers were told in a letter this week.

The organization said it was the victim of internal theft by a worker who improperly took about $200,000 in unauthorized pay, vacation leave and improper credit card charges.

“Upon discovering possible impropriety, the district placed the employee on leave and conducted a thorough forensic audit with a trained forensic accountant,” the irrigation district said.

COID’s board of directors terminated the employee, whose name was not released, and the matter was referred to the Deschutes County district attorney.

“In a tragic turn of the events, the employee took (their) own life,” the district said in a media statement.

“This has been a difficult time for the entire team at COID,” the release continued. “The organization has adopted a set of new procedures and financial safeguards to assure that these events cannot be repeated, and its hearts go out to the family that suffered an unfortunate loss.”

The irrigation district also said it “has now submitted a claim to its insurance company in an effort to recover the loss and is optimistic that the entire loss or most of the loss will be covered by the district’s theft insurance.”

NewsChannel 21 has suicide information and support, including crisis hot line numbers, at our Let’s Talk page.