Nordenstrom charged with attempted identity theft in Pine County

Former Isanti County Sheriff's Foundation treasurer Kim Nordenstrom was charged with attempted identity theft in Pine County on Wednesday.

According to the criminal complaint, a Pine County deputy responded to Brook Park Auto & Recycling on July 23 on a fraud complaint.

Owner Johan Schmidt reported that Nordenstrom, who formerly owned the business, attempted to take a loan out in Amanda Adams' name.

Schmidt and Adams had sued Nordenstrom for embezzlement in 2022.

The complaint states that they bought the business from Nordenstrom and were still making payments. The 2022 lawsuit came after they found out she had been using business money to pay for her personal bills.

Nordenstrom was removed from the business as part of the settlement, but a contractual arrangement was in place because Schmidt and Adams still owed her money.

On July 22, Nordenstrom showed up at the business and told Adams she was going to take out an $80,000 loan and have it deposited into the business account.

Nordenstrom wanted Adams to write a check out of the business account when the money showed up.

She allegedly asked to use the office computer to access an email, and requested answers to security questions.

When Schmidt later checked the history on the computer, he saw it was used to go to online lending company OnDeck Capital, where Adams' name and social security number had been used to get approved for a loan.

The website had Nordenstrom's phone number and home address, and Adams stated she never gave Nordenstrom permission to take out a loan in her name.

Schmidt and Adams called to have the loan canceled and collected paperwork from Alpine, the company used to service the loan.

Law enforcement received the credit application from Alpine on July 25, which requested a loan amount of $120,000. Adams confirmed it used her social security number and date of birth and a digital signature that was not hers.

The application included Nordenstrom's home address and phone number, as well as an email address used when she was with the business. Adams discovered Nordenstrom had changed the password.

Investigators later reviewed surveillance footage from Brook Park Auto, and browser history on the office computer, and the timing of the OnDeck access matched when Nordenstrom was in the back office.

Nordenstrom was charged with two felony counts of theft on Oct. 7, concerning allegations of abusing her position as treasurer of the Isanti County Sheriff's Foundation and stealing $100,000 in grant funding intended for a nonprofit.

According to the complaint, Nordenstrom was confronted with the evidence by law enforcement who were investigating the $100,000 theft on July 17, and filled out a credit application for Alpine using Adams' information on the same day.

Nordenstrom told authorities she intended to repay all of the money by mortgaging her home and claiming to have multiple bank accounts at various institutions.

Five days later, she allegedly went to Brook Park Auto and attempted to take out a loan in Adams' name.

Nordenstrom is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 25.