A Neosho woman is accused of taking more than $21,000 from a nursing home trust fund and using the money for her own personal use.

Verna Jo Mitchell, 50, the former office manager at Medicalodge of Neosho, is accused of taking more than $21,000, but less than $25,000 from the facility’s trust fund account for her personal use, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Michael Whitehead, a detective with the Neosho Police Department. The theft took place between December 2007 and December 2008, Whitehead wrote in the affidavit.

“Mrs. Mitchell wrote checks to herself and her husband, appropriated monies from Medicalodge residents’ accounts and altered the books to cover up the transactions,” Whitehead stated in the affidavit. “Mrs. Mitchell did not have permission to use the trust account for her personal use.”

In the affidavit, Whitehead noted he had made an appointment with Mitchell to discuss the allegations, but she did not show up for it. However, on April 9, she posted a $10,000 surety bond.

A bond appearance hearing has been set for 8:30 a.m. May 4 before Newton County Division II Associate Circuit Court Judge Greg Stremel.

A Class C felony, Mitchell faces up to seven years in a Missouri Department of Corrections prison if a conviction is reached.

Meanwhile, Mitchell is also accused of obtaining a debit card in her estranged husband’s name on his checking account and charging more than $6,500 on it.

Don Mitchell, Newtonia, told investigators with the Newton County Sheriff’s Department he has never owned a debit card and was seeking a divorce with Verna Mitchell. The debit card allegedly bore Don Mitchell’s signature, but it was not in his handwriting, a probable cause affidavit states.

“A handwriting analysis showed the same hand wrote both the signature on Verna Jo Mitchell’s driver’s license and the signature on the approval form for the debit card,” Det. Randy Scott wrote in the affidavit. “Video surveillance from both Wal-Mart and the Community Bank & Trust ATM at 3105 Lusk Drive showed Verna Jo Mitchell using the card on both occasions.”

Scott said Verna Mitchell also used the card at several area casinos, including Bordertown, where she works.

Verna Mitchell posted a $7,500 surety bond in this case on April 14. She will appear for a bond appearance hearing on May 4, at the same time, courtroom and judge as her other case.

The charge is a Class D felony, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison if a conviction is reached.