KENNEWICK, Wash. – The 70-year-old former manager of Tri-City Medical CU, on the run for the last 26 years, confessed yesterday to stealing $106,000 from the credit union in 1983.
Barbara Kurz pleaded guilty in Benton County Superior Court to first-degree theft. She was sentenced to six months in jail — double the top of the standard sentencing range.
Kurz vanished after the 1983 theft, but was tracked down and arrested in Mesa, Ariz., two months ago. She has been in the Benton County jail since she was returned to Kennewick last month.
Kurz is accused of taking $106,000 from the Tri-City Medical Credit Union and possibly $4,000 from GESA FCU. She had been a supervisor at GESA’s Kennewick office and used the office to also do paperwork for her own credit union, Tri-City Medical CU.
Kurz was a 44-year-old wife and mother of four when she went on the lam. Police initially thought she may have been a victim of foul play or suicide, but investigators found clues leading them to suspect Kurz was on the run.
