WEBSTER CITY — A former Webster City Chamber of Commerce employee entered a written plea of not guilty Monday in Hamilton County District Court on four felony charges related to alleged improper spending of chamber funds.

Leah Mulholland, 40, Webster City, will face a jury trial on Aug. 25, according to online court records. She was arrested Feb. 18 and charged with ongoing criminal conduct, a Class B felony; first-degree theft, a Class C felony; unauthorized use of a credit card, a Class D felony; and forgery, a Class D felony.

On June 25, 2018, the Webster City Police Department requested the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on a financial investigation involving the Webster City Chamber of Commerce and the former administrative assistant, Mulholland. The office of the Auditor of State conducted an audit for the period of Oct. 1, 2013, through June 30, 2018. The audit report was released July 3, 2019.

The audit found 367 checks issued to Mulholland totaling $236,313.03. Of those checks,139 were payroll checks; four were bonuses and two were reimbursements. Two-hundred twenty-two were unauthorized checks ranging from $20 to $2,000.

The audit also found that Mulholland had garnishments that should have come out of her payroll check, but instead came out of the Chamber account on seven dates.

Auditors also uncovered 846 debit card transactions with only 107 that were properly supported by Chamber records.