(Atlantic, Iowa) – The former City Clerk in Cumberland was taken into custody, Friday on charges that include 1^st Degree Theft, Fraudulent Practices, and tampering with records (financial). Grace Thomsen turned herself-in on the charges, following a State Auditor’s report and investigation into the City of Cumberland’s finances. The incident involving Thomsen allegedly occurred between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2021.

Prior to resigning as the City Clerk in June, 2021, Thomsen admitted to the Mayor of Cumberland, that she took $2,000. The funds were used to help feed Thomsen’s family. In a statement to law enforcement, Thomsen admitted she took utility funds amounting to less than $10,000 from the City.

Her admissions, and the investigation into her alleged activities, resulted in Thomsen being charged with:

• 1st-degree Theft (for the Theft of $27,955.13 from the City of Cumberland). Authorities say the Theft was carried out through multiple means, including writing checks for unapproved or unsupported pay/salary, making personal purchases on City of Cumberland cards and accounts; Theft of utilities by not paying, altering the name on the billed account, and not billing herself; and Theft of cash by not depositing utility payments, rent payments, or other cash collected for the City of Cumberland that should have been deposited.
• Fraudulent practices for allegedly making an entry in or an alteration of a public record, or a record of a corporation, partnership, or another business enterprise
• and, tampering with records for allegedly falsifying, destroying, removing, or conceal writing or record, with the intent to injure, deceive, or to conceal wrongdoing.

Thomsen was being held in the Cass County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.