OWATONNA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A woman employed as a financial coordinator with Associated Church has been charged with stealing nearly $450,000 in church funds after it was found she had payroll access and spent most the money on shopping and cosmetic treatments.
Church financial auditor theft charges
What we know:
Vanessa Ann Stoltz, 34, of Ellendale, faces two counts of theft for actions that occurred between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 5, 2025.
Dig deeper:
According to charges, investigators in Steele County learned that Stoltz was employed by the church part-time, working 20 hours or less a week, but was the only person in charge of payroll and held access to its software financial management tool. The church provided Stoltz with a laptop that she used to access the Quick Books platform from her home, according to charges.
Throughout her tenure, the church board alleged that it would meet and make requests from Stoltz for information on their financial outlook. However, Stoltz would only provide small bits of information and not a complete summary – often promising further information that never came.
Then in late summer of 2025, Associated Church received letters from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), stating that it had not paid payroll taxes. Church members reported not receiving a clear answer as to why the bill was not paid at that point, according to charges.
Around Nov. 10, 2025, church members reported being "locked out" of financial records in the Quick Books program, at that point seeking assistance from a local accounting firm, which was able to gain access and observe gross losses totaling $449,165.07 from 2024 to 2025.
When questioned by a Steele County investigator, Stoltz confirmed she was a part-time employee with the church, and that she was aware of a problem with Quick Books when they moved from "desktop to online" that she brought to the attention of the church.
At the time, she denied receiving any extra payments, and told the detective that she was "broke."
Big picture view:
Further examining the church finances with accounting firm Terry Evans and Associates, authorities learned that Stoltz was the only person to have received such overpayments and received the illicit funds via direct deposit to an Owatonna Community Bank account.
On Dec. 18, 2025, a detective learned through a subpoena that Stoltz had two accounts with Owatonna Community Bank, and it became apparent that the overpayments were received into her account on each reported month. Once funds had been received, they were typically spent each month on things such as Amazon, credit cards, Sono Bello treatments, clothing and food delivery services. At no time did detectives observe any type of reimbursements to Associated Church.
They also found four checks totaling $6,850, which appear to have been signed off by a fraudulent signature.
What's next:
On Feb. 2, 2026, Stoltz told a detective that there had been issues with Quick Books in the past, and it could show that she was being paid "essentially double." However, there will also be a refund noted.
Charges say that arrangements were made with Stoltz for her to provide authorities with account statements clarifying her assertions, but as of Feb. 10, none had been received yet.