Former employee charged in $120K fraud at Eden Prairie nonprofit

An Apple Valley woman is facing felony charges after allegedly stealing more than $120,000 from an Eden Prairie-based nonprofit that operates senior living facilities for low-income residents, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Gail Marie Lindstrom, 59, is charged with three felonies: theft by swindle, check forgery, and possession or sale of stolen or counterfeit checks. She is accused of orchestrating a yearlong fraud scheme while working as an accounts payable administrator at the Eden Prairie office of Volunteers of America, a national nonprofit.

The complaint alleges Lindstrom exploited her position at VOA between June 2021 and May 2022 to redirect uncashed checks to herself, using aliases such as “Gail Shaw.” She is also accused of creating fake invoices and issuing fraudulent payments.

The alleged theft came to light in August 2024, more than two years after Lindstrom was terminated for unrelated performance issues. The discovery began when a family member of a deceased VOA resident contacted the organization about a $1,001 check they found – only to learn the check had been cashed, despite being physically in their possession. A review of financial records revealed the check had been voided and reissued to “Gail Shaw,” a name linked to Lindstrom.

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Police allege that Lindstrom issued dozens of checks to herself by altering only the payee information while leaving other details, such as the amount and vendor code, unchanged – allowing the checks to bypass internal safeguards. Because the checks were under $10,000, they did not require a secondary signature.

Investigators say Lindstrom deposited the fraudulent checks into multiple bank accounts she controlled, including accounts jointly held with a relative. A search warrant executed at Huntington National Bank uncovered six accounts tied to Lindstrom, opened under variations of her legal name or her alias.

In total, the investigation identified more than 30 checks issued fraudulently, with the cumulative value reaching $120,234.09. Many of the original payments had been intended for organizations such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, HealthPartners, McKesson Medical-Surgical, and various law firms and estates.

Lindstrom’s first court appearance was held Tuesday, June 3. She is scheduled to return to court July 8. The complaint states that Lindstrom was listed as a suspect in a 2019 Minneapolis police report involving a separate embezzlement case. She has no prior convictions.

Lindstrom has not yet entered a plea and is presumed innocent.

If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine on the most serious charge.