Police refer Monument Advisors owner for theft by deception charges

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - Grand Island Police are referring 33 felony charges for Monument Advisors owner following a nearly two month investigation. That’s according to a statement sent out Wednesday by GIPD Captain Jim Duering.

The statement says that the department has reviewed 59 reported incidents involving the business of Monument Advisors, located at that time at 2545 W. Old Potash Highway, in Grand Island; and specifically the business dealings of owner, 45-year-old Kelli Lepler, of Grand Island.

Following the investigation, the Grand Island Police Department said they have found cause to forward 37 of the 59 reported incidents to the Hall County Attorney’s Office for review. In these instances, the investigation concluded that Lepler used deceptive practices in eliciting business from customers where we could find no evidence that an attempt was made to fulfill those orders after receipt of funds.

The Grand Island Police Department believes that this constitutes 33 Felony counts of Theft by Deception, and 4 additional Misdemeanor counts of Theft by Deception totaling over $200,000 in loss by the victims.

According to Duering, the next step of due process in the Criminal Justice system will be for the Hall County Attorney’s office to review the findings of this investigation and determine if they believe cause to exist for a criminal complaint into the court system for some or all of these incidents.

Duering said the investigation required copious hours of hard work by our investigators and other members of the department, and they appreciate the support and patience of the victims of these incidents in allowing us to conduct a thorough investigation.