BLACKFOOT — Russell Leonardson, the Idaho Falls man accused of embezzling more than $1.6 million from his former employer, Idaho Select Inc. in Aberdeen, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday.

Leonardson, 49, is charged with 70 counts of felony forgery with each count carrying a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine and two counts of grand theft by embezzlement, also a felony, punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.

He will appear in 7th District Court on April 20 at 1 p.m.  

The charges were the result of an investigation by a Joint Detectives Unit for Bingham County and the Blackfoot Police Department and the Aberdeen Police Department.

The complaint alleges that Leonardson changed dates, payee names and other entries in Idaho Select’s record books on several occasions between 2007 and 2014 and that he also deleted information.

The grand theft charges stem from the alleged embezzlement of funds from the potato shipping company as well as a subsidiary, Select Express, LLC.

Leonardson started working for Idaho Select in 1997 and resigned in August.

The company stated in December that Leonardson was responsible for providing monthly financial statements and for establishing internal controls to protect the company from financial predators and deficiencies.

But financial statements were frequently late or incomplete, and Leonardson often blamed major vendors and customers.

As a result, the company requested that a full-time bookkeeper be hired, but Leonardson hired non-credential professionals and fired them a short time later. He consistently claimed that Idaho Select couldn’t afford a full-time accountant.

In July, Scott Poulson, president of Idaho Select, again requested that an accountant be hired. Leonardson refused and became upset. One month later, he resigned, giving the company a two weeks’ notice.

In September, the company hired the accounting firm of Cooper Norman to evaluate Leonardson’s conduct as manager and comptroller, and in October, the firm notified Idaho Select that facts in the case suggested that Leonardson used the company credit card to make personal purchases and that he engaged in check tampering. Leonardson also allegedly made ATM withdrawals that exceeded $77,000.

A civil suit was also filed on Dec. 4 in connection to the criminal case. The civil suit names Leonardson and his wife, Melissa. According to court records, that case was listed inactive on Feb. 18.