Northfield Nonprofit Director Charged with Stealing Money

A Northfield woman accused of stealing more than $17,000 from the nonprofit she was in charge of faces another hearing next week.

Candace Kaye Nordine, 54, was the executive director of Northfield-based Project SIGHT, an organization whose mission was teen pregnancy prevention in Rice County. In August 2010, board members discovered that Nordine had been withdrawing thousands of dollars from the nonprofit’s account for non-organization purposes and confronted her about financial discrepancies, according to a criminal complaint filed with Rice County District Court.

As a result of the alleged theft, board members told that the nonprofit, which started in 1996, had to dissolve at the end of 2010 because of money owed for rent to the , taxes and additional debt the organization owed other nonprofits.

On Aug. 24, 2010, board members met with Nordine and confronted her with two invoices totaling more than $3,400 for two sports businesses, according to charges. Both invoices indicated that Nordine had used cash from Project SIGHT’s account to pay for sports items, though when a board member contacted the two businesses, they said those invoices were never made with them, according to the complaint.

Nordine admitted to board members that the invoices were fakes, the charges say, and she said she made cash withdrawals for personal use. She said she had uncontrolled spending habits, but did not give a reason for the theft, according to the complaint.

She told the board at the Aug. 24 meeting that she began stealing in 2008 and resigned at that meeting, charges say. Nordine had been with the nonprofit since 2002.

In addition to the two invoices, Northfield investigators found that Nordine had signed for 12 cash withdrawals from Project SIGHT's bank account and made two other withdrawals in which the slips were made out to Nordine, according to the complaint. In all, police say Nordine stole $17,395.38 between June 15, 2009, and July 8, 2010. A $300 withdrawal believed to be made by Nordine on Sept. 4, 2008, is not part of the total, according to charges.

In her resignation letter, Nordine "accepted responsibility for [her] actions" for the "years of 2008-2010," according to charges, and also admitted to her "misuse of organizational funds."

Nordine was charged earlier this year with one count of felony theft-by-swindle, which carries a maximum penalty of not more than 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.

In May 2012, Ardys Johnson, former chair of Project SIGHT, filed an affidavit for restitution against Nordine, according to Minnesota court records and the Rice County Attorney's Office.

Before it dissolved, Project SIGHT received funding from the Northfield Area United Way, the Faribault United Way and received contributions from individuals, churches, organizations and businesses. 

Project SIGHT’s net assets went from $259,779 in 2007 to a deficit of $15,579 in 2009, according to tax records. Project SIGHT's 2009 taxes, which were submitted to the Internal Revenue Service in November 2010 and months after Nordine's alleged theft ended, indicated $16,100 in "missing funds."

Project SIGHT's Finances

In October 2010, Nordine was named a defendant in conciliation court in Dakota County when Citifinancial Services filed a claim against her. In November, the case was dismissed, according to court records.

Nordine next appears July 25 for the theft-by-swindle charge in Rice County for an omnibus hearing, where it will be determined if there is sufficient evidence to continue with the case and/or to determine whether police followed all constitutional and statutory requirements in their investigation.

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Editor's note: Ardys Johnson's name has been added as the person who filed for restitution.