BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County woman is alleged to have taken more than $3,000 from Upshur County Youth Soccer without authorization while she was treasurer of the organization.

Kathryn Hasbrouck, 36, of Buckhannon, was arrested for embezzlement, a felony, and fraudulent use of an access device, also a felony, for allegedly taking $3,383.55 out of the league’s bank account over the course of a four-month period between March and June 2021. Court documents also show Kathryn Hasbrouck’s husband, James Hasbrouck, 39, of Buckhannon, was arrested on two counts of fraudulent use of an access device, a felony.

According to several criminal complaints filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s office by investigating officer Patrolman First Class Angel McCauley with the Buckhannon Police Department, the president of Upshur County Youth Soccer organization, Kevin Nicholson, contacted McCauley in June.

Nicholson told police that Kathryn, who was then the treasurer of Upshur County Youth Soccer, had been given a UCYS debit card but said she wasn’t authorized to use the card “to make withdrawals” or for personal use.

Nicholson told police that on June 21, 2021, the day before she was supposed to prepare a financial reports for a UCYS Board meeting, Kathryn told Nicholson that “she was having problems getting the account to balance and that she may have accidentally used the Upshur County Youth Soccer debit card,” the police report states.

Nicholson told police he then logged into UCYS’s Premier Bank account and discovered several unauthorized transactions.

“Additional investigation also revealed that Kathryn was seen on camera footage with the Upshur County Youth Soccer debit card,” allegedly withdrawing cash out of the First Community Bank ATM, McCauley wrote in the complaint.

“Kathryn made several cash [withdrawals] from several ATMs around Buckhannon without permission or authorization,” which she reportedly kept and did not repay, the complaints allege. The file also says that Kathryn Hasbrouck allegedly used the UCYS debit card to pay her vehicle insurance in the amount of $145.80, according to an account statement police obtained from Progressive Auto Insurance via a search warrant.  

McCauley also filed a criminal complaint against James, which says he allegedly used the UCYS debit card on two occasions – May 27, 2021 and June 6, 2021 – to withdraw $205 and $405, respectively.

Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis set bail at $500, 10 percent cash and 90 percent personal recognizance, for both Kathryn Hasbrouck and James Hasbrouck, and both were admitted to bail July 27. The penalty for a conviction of one felony count of embezzlement is imprisonment in state penitentiary for not less than 10 years, while the penalty for a conviction of fraudulent use of an access device is a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment in the state penitentiary or both.

Nicholson said Kathryn is no longer on the UCYS after he asked for her resignation in June, and that to protect the league’s finances, no debit cards will be given out in the future.

“It’s my utmost responsibility to safeguard the league’s players and finances,” Nicholson said. “I want people to still trust the league and trust what’s going on. The league has taken steps going forward so that nothing like this ever happens again.”

“We’re a nonprofit, and we survive on registration fees,” he added. “Everything we take in, in registration fees, we put back out to run the league, so this is not a victimless crime.”

About 250 players ages 4-18 participate in Upshur County Youth Soccer, and the fall season gets underway Aug. 16.