Former health official accused of stealing

By Marshall Allen

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The former executive administrator of the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of embezzling from the board.

Catryna Kelly, 42, is accused in a complaint filed by the Nevada attorney general’s office of using a board credit card for personal purchases, including airfare for herself and her son, Ethel M’s chocolate and dental services.

Kelly’s arrest comes less than a year after the employee she replaced, John E. Delap III, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 12 to 48 months after pleading guilty to two felony counts of theft from the board.

“I’ve had bad luck with these people who I hired and trusted,” said Dr. Larry Tarno, former executive director of the board.

The criminal complaint in the case against Kelly says that between May and October 2008 she misused a board credit card for up to $11,161 in personal expenses and cash advances.

The complaint accuses Kelly of misusing the credit card after she was caught by Tarno making unauthorized charges to the board’s card. To address the problem, Tarno required Kelly to bring him bills for the credit card, so he could monitor its use.

“Since Kelly never brought him a statement from the credit card account, Dr. Tarno thought no charges had been made,” the complaint said.

Kelly could not be reached for comment.

Tarno said he was “certainly” more cautious with his employees after the embezzlement case involving Delap, but that he could not have known about Kelly’s alleged theft because she was hiding the bills.

“It’s inherent that somewhere along the line you have to trust people,” Tarno said.

When asked whether a better system could have been in place to monitor Kelly, Tarno said he did not know what else he could have done.

Tarno has since resigned from the board, and the executive director position remains vacant.

Dr. Dan Curtis, president of the board, said he could not comment on the case.