Celler

If you know former Friends of the Volunteer Park Conservatory treasurer Dan Celler, let him know he needs to be in King County Superior Court Thursday morning. You can also tell him he’s been charged with nine counts of second degree theft for the more than $90,000 police say he stole from the nonprofit organization that cares for the Volunteer Park facility.

According to court documents, the criminal proceedings against Celler have finally come to a head. CHS reported in October 2013 on the civil suit against Celler brought by the Friends group. That August, a King County Superior Court judge issued a default judgement after Celler failed to appear in court.

The criminal charges follow an investigation by the Seattle Police Department that began in the summer of 2013:

The charging documents confirm CHS’s earlier report that Celler made a few payments on the money owed and then vanished:

According to police, Celler’s last known Seattle address was on 18th Ave E. The list of alleged improper purchases and transactions documented in the investigation — except for the occasional $1,000+ wire transfers and withdrawals — looks like the spending of a typical Capitol Hill 30-something with stops including the old Bagel Deli, Cafe Ladro, Club Z and several Zipcar transactions.

Celler is not currently in custody and a summons has been issued requiring his appearance at the hearing later this week. According to an update to his Facebook profile, the 36-year-old claims he was recently studying massage at the Soma Institute in Chicago.

In October, the former director of a Capitol Hill school program was sentenced to 17 months in prison and ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution for embezzling thousands of dollars from the program.