A former golf course worker accused of stealing nearly $900,000 from an Ohio golf course remains at large.
According to multiple reports, Kinley Lee is accused of embezzling $883,000 from Coldstream Country Club in the Cincinatti area while working as the club’s controller.
Lee and his wife reportedly left the U.S. in June of 2024 to live in Mexico. In August of that year, the couple was ordered to pay Coldstream $4 million, the original amount stolen plus damages, after the club filed a civil lawsuit.
According to WKRC, local authorities are attempting to extradite Lee to face charges in the U.S.
“We’ve been engaged in that process with the sheriff’s office and the various federal agencies,” Hamilton County assistant prosecutor Andy Berghausen told WKRC. “We’re confident that things are moving forward and progressing to try to get all the necessary paperwork and things in place to bring him back.”
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Berghausen added help from federal authorities would be needed and no timeline was provided.
According to court documents reviewed by USA Today and Golfweek, Lee, 28, worked as Coldstream’s controller for less than a year. He transferred the club’s money to accounts he controlled and left the country ahead of a planned audit, telling the club he and his wife were going on vacation to Mexico.
An arrest warrant is out for Lee, and if he’s captured, Coldstream plans to ask for a lengthy prison sentence.
“It’s just a matter of time,” Coldstream’s attorney Christopher McDowell told USA Today. “He’s never safe.”
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