A Minnesota woman is facing three felony charges after prosecutors say she wrote bad checks to a school gift card fundraiser and a local sports equipment company from a bank account that had been closed for years.
Kelsey Rae Wastweet, 36, of Gary, Minnesota, was charged June 15 in Polk County District Court with three counts of felony issuance of dishonored checks, according to Valley News Live.
The case started with checks tied to the RaiseRight gift card fundraiser program at Sacred Heart school in East Grand Forks. Prosecutors said the checks were written from a BankMobile account that investigators later found had been closed in 2018 because of fraud.
The charges are allegations. Wastweet has not been convicted in the Minnesota case, and prosecutors still have to prove the charges in court.
The First Two Checks Went To A School Gift Card Fundraiser
According to the criminal complaint cited by Valley News Live, Wastweet wrote two checks to the RaiseRight fundraiser program in the summer of 2025.
The first check was dated July 22, 2025, for $996. The second was dated July 30, 2025, for $9,750. Both checks were returned as “unable to locate account,” according to the complaint.
RaiseRight describes its program as gift card fundraising, also known as scrip, where supporters buy gift cards at face value and a percentage of the purchase becomes earnings for a school, team, or organization.
That is what gives the allegation a sharper community angle. A school gift card fundraiser is supposed to turn routine purchases into money for families and programs. Prosecutors say the payment trail in this case led investigators to a long-closed account.
Investigators Reported About $80,000 In Attempted Transactions
RaiseRight also reported that Wastweet placed two additional online gift card orders through the fundraiser on Aug. 6, 2025, according to Valley News Live.
Those orders totaled $8,400, the station reported.
East Grand Forks police investigated and found that the BankMobile account used for the checks had been closed. Investigators also found that Wastweet had two BankMobile accounts, both shut down due to fraud in July 2018, according to the complaint cited by Valley News Live.
The complaint also alleged about $80,000 in attempted transactions on the closed account.
A Separate Check Was Tied To Hockey Apparel
A third check surfaced in early 2026 through a separate report to Crookston police.
Police said Wastweet purchased customized hockey apparel from Stinger Bat Co. on Feb. 11, 2026, using a check for $1,929.95 from the same closed BankMobile account, according to Valley News Live.
As of June 11, 2026, no payment had been made to the company, the station reported.
That check became the third felony count in the case. Together, the charges cover two school-fundraiser checks and one sports-apparel check that prosecutors say were written from the closed account.
Schools And Teams Can Get Hit Before A Check Fully Settles
Gift card and custom-order fundraisers can be exposed when high-value orders are treated as paid before the money is actually settled. RaiseRight says eGift cards are delivered electronically and saved to a user’s wallet for mobile or desktop use, which can make payment timing important when large orders are involved.
The Federal Trade Commission warns that deposited funds can appear available before a bank has confirmed a check is good. The agency says fake or bad checks can take days or weeks to be discovered, and the person or organization that accepted the check can be left responsible after the money is reversed.
For school groups, booster clubs, and small vendors, that means large check-paid orders should be treated differently from routine small payments. Waiting for the bank to confirm final payment, keeping copies of the check and order history, matching the name on the account to the buyer, and pausing delivery of gift cards or custom merchandise can preserve the paper trail if a payment later comes back unpaid.
Each Felony Count Carries Up To Five Years
Under Minnesota law, issuance of a dishonored check can become a felony when the value of the dishonored check, or aggregated checks, is more than $500.
A person convicted under that felony level can face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
A warrant was issued for Wastweet’s arrest on June 15, and she made her first court appearance on June 22, according to Valley News Live.
The station also reported that court records show a prior fraud-related conviction in North Dakota. Wastweet was charged in October 2018 with three counts of felony counterfeiting and was convicted on all three counts in February 2019, according to the report.