GREEN RIVER – Money lost through an alleged embezzlement scheme was not a reason behind the sale of Green River’s newspaper in 2013.
According to the Powell Tribune, Powell-based accountant Carl W. Wheeler was arrested and charged with four counts of felony theft. Wheeler worked for Sage Accounting, an internal business office for Sage Publishing Company and is accused of stealing nearly $1.3 million from the company over a 12-year period. Sage Publishing owns and operates newspapers and was the longtime owner of the Green River Star until its sale to J. Louie Mullen and his father Tom Mullen in 2013.
Court documents cited by the Powell Tribune allege the embezzlement started in 2011 when Wheeler is alleged to have added extra funds to payments made to a part owner in the company, which were then diverted to personal accounts. Wheeler became the company’s in-house accountant in 2004 after Sage Publishing’s former bookkeeper was caught embezzling funds.
Bob Kennedy, a part owner in Sage Publishing, told SweetwaterNOW the company’s sale of the Green River Star in 2013 wasn’t motivated by losses through the alleged embezzlement. Kennedy said he couldn’t comment on the investigation but said the sale of the Star 2013 and later newspaper sales were motivated by the declines in the newspaper industry seen nationwide and retirement.
Kathy Gilbert, the Star’s managing editor and publisher from 2006-2012, said she doesn’t recall Kennedy mentioning sudden declines in revenue during the later years of her tenure at the Star.
“He didn’t seem like he was concerned at the time,” she said.
Full disclosure: David Martin was the managing editor and later publisher of the Green River Star newspaper from 2012 to 2022.
