Two Owensville Athletic Association officers, a husband and wife, have been charged with felony stealing over $25,000 in connection with a year-long investigation by Owensville police into unauthorized debit card purchases of goods and services.

Justin H.F. Lowe, who served as vice president of the local youth sports organization, was charged Aug. 24 in a felony Gasconade County warrant alleging the theft of $40,697.56 from OAA accounts.

His wife, Brittany M. Lowe, treasurer of the OAA, was also charged with stealing over $25,000.

Det. Rob Green cited the period from Feb. 2, 2021, through May 5, 2022, as the focus of the investigation which revealed the Lowes had allegedly been using an OAA debit card for “personal purchases” which eventually resulted in a “bounced” check when the group’s president was paying for t-shirts for the group’s summer ball teams.

The investigation revealed Lowe and his wife, who was the association’s treasurer, did not have authorization to use the debit card for personal purchase.

Green’s PC statement noted that on May 24, 2022, he “was contacted by the president of the Owensville Athletic Association who stated that Justin Lowe, the vice-president, has been using the debit card issued to him for personal purchases that he did not have permission to use the debit card to pay personal bills or make any personal purchases whatsoever.”

Lowe had been given the debit card to make purchases, if necessary, for the association, police reported.

T-shirts for the summer baseball and softball teams had been ordered but when an OAA official went to pay for them the check bounced. The OAA official checked the account and learned that the account was overdrawn, according to police.

Police received a copy of the checking account statement showing all transactions from February 2021 to May 2022.

In a heavily redacted Aug. 10 probable cause statement filed by Green as the application for felony charges, the extent of the alleged theft of OAA funds begins by noting police learned the Lowes had been using the debit card at the Owensville Walmart store to make purchases totaling $8,729.05.

An examination of bank records reveals unauthorized spending amounted to $40,697.56. According to the probable cause statement, the Lowes are alleged to have spent the following sums at various retail and online businesses for goods and services including:

Walmart.com $1,017.64, Dick’s Sporting Goods $151.92, Academy Sports $217.94, Rural King $539.92, AT&T $739.32, Frost Electric $88.87,  Google Play $928.67, Amazon.com $1,707.16, Venmo $3,123.80, Dollar General $181.67, ATM withdrawals (including fees) $16,195.15, Orscheln $107.94, Cash Saver $416.34, Save-A-Lot $107.95, Drury Inn $268.28, USA Wrestling $148.00, Snowensville Diner $500,  Hibbett Sports $154.37, Midway USA $127.13, Dickey Bub $96.39, Sam’s Club $1,033.45, United States Postal Service $79, Voss Market $80.03, Microsoft $99.99, Lowe’s $1,285.50, money transfers in the amount of $2,500, and overdraft fees totaling $30.

The police report said the athletic association’s president stated that none of the purchases made were in fact valid purchases for the association. The OAA official told police that “neither Justin Lowe nor (his wife) had permission to use the association’s debit card at any time to spend money for their private purchases.”

And, while police were reviewing video surveillance footage from a Walmart purchase, Brittany Lowe is seen taking the OAA debit card which was then used to pay for items including “toys, panties, food, clothing, and cash withdrawals, none of which was used by the Association,” according to the report.

A cash or surety bond for both was set at $5,000. They are scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Ada Brehe-Krueger in Gasconade County Associate Circuit Court at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, in Hermann.

She told police she did not keep receipts from purchases or withdrawals she made using the OAA debit card, according to Green.