BELLE — A Belle woman was charged Tuesday in Osage County’s 20th Circuit Court on allegations of stealing $70,630.04 from the Belle Fire Protection District, a class C felony.

Courtney Ann (Duncan) Abel served as the secretary for the Belle Fire Protection District (BFPD) between May 1, 2022, and March 31, 2024, in Osage County. According to a document titled “Complaint” filed in court, Abel allegedly “appropriated cash and other forms of currency of value of at least $25,000, which property was owned by (the Belle Fire Protection District) and with the purpose to deprive the victim.

Osage County Sheriff’s Detective Nicholas A. Pappas filed a Probable Cause Statement on March 18 with Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Grellner. Pappas noted a representative from the Belle Fire Protection District, located at 98 Highway 28 East, Belle, contacted the sheriff’s office on March 2, 2024, for a deputy as they wanted to file a report for stealing.

Deputy Amy Keiholz responded to the call and met with the president and the fire chief of the Belle Fire Protection District. Both names were redacted from the Probable Cause Statement.

According to the Probable Cause Statement, the chief notified the board president that bills were not being paid. Another board member obtained a bank statement from Mid America Bank and after reviewing them, they noticed checks were written to C. Abel by herself and then cashed as payroll.

BFPD officials then checked the credit card statements and noticed numerous charges to various businesses and several PayPal accounts.

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office was able to subpoena credit card statements from Mid America Bank and located 89 charges totaling $70,630.04 made between 2022 and 2024 to two PayPal accounts. The names on the PayPal accounts have been redacted.

After interviewing the fire chief and a former board member who also happens to be Abel’s estranged husband, officials determined there was not a legitimate purpose for any of the purchases. Furthermore, Belle Fire Protection District does not use a PayPal account.

The social security number attached to a second account also belonged to Abel. The address on the account was listed as a nonprofit business located in the 300 block of Belle Avenue, Belle, Mo., — Abel’s residence. The Belle Fire Protection District credit card was attached to the account.

A second PayPal account was listed as a Premier Full account owned by Courtney Duncan, which is Abel’s maiden name. The same Belle Avenue, Belle, address was listed, along with Abel’s Social Security Number and birth date. Both Belle Fire Protection District credit cards were assigned to the account.

Abel was in Judge Sonya Brandt’s 20th Osage County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning, represented by Attorney Kirsch for arraignment and formally waived the reading of the charges. She is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. on May 13 before Brandt.