Orcas Woman Faces Federal Wire Fraud Charge

— by Levi Pulkkinen, SeattlePI —

An Orcas Island woman accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a retired astronaut and his wife in an elaborate, long-running embezzlement scheme now faces federal charges.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Sarah E. Coffelt embezzled $755,400 from Bill and Valerie Anders, owners of the Heritage Flight Museum in Burlington.

Bill Anders, an Apollo 8 astronaut, settled in Anacortes after a career with NASA and in private industry that included a stint as CEO of General Dynamics. The Anders, whose businesses include Apogee Flight Inc., present a collection of warbirds through the museum.

Coffelt, who owned Moon Glow Arts and Crafts in Eastsound, is alleged to have stolen from Apogee accounts while also running up charges on company credit cards.

“Coffelt would pay Apogee bills and payroll but would appropriate most of the funds for her personal expenses, for gifts for and expenses of her family and friends, and for stock and operating expenses for her business,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Roe said in court papers.

According to charging papers, Coffelt charged more than 1,500 personal Amazon orders to the Anders. Prosecutors say she went so far as to take out a credit card in Bill Anders’ name, and regularly transferred large sums of money out of accounts belonging to the Anders into her own.

Prosecutors’ claims closely follow those made by attorneys for the Anders in a bankruptcy action filed in August by Coffelt and her husband.

Writing in court papers, attorney Lawrence Engel said the Anders discovered in June 2015 that Coffelt and another employee were abusing company gasoline cards. Engel said Coffelt was fired in April 2016 after more thefts were discovered.

In addition to Amazon, Coffelt spent the Anacortes couples’ money at Alaska Air and Victoria’s Secret, and to pay her personal bills, Engel said in court papers.

“Coffelt violated the trust (Bill) Anders and Apogee had placed in her over the years,” Engel said in a statement filed in response to Coffelt’s bankruptcy claim.

The Anders have been a fixture in northwestern Washington state for decades and are well known there for their philanthropic work. Bill Anders founded the Heritage Flight Museum, which exhibits more than a dozen military aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang and several jets. He, his sons and others demonstrate the aircraft at airshows.

Coffelt has been charged by information with wire fraud. She has not been jailed in the matter.

SOURCE: Seattle PI