Ex-mayor charged with stealing from baseball team

ST. CLOUD - The former mayor of Richmond in central Minnesota is accused of stealing money from the amateur baseball team that he used to manage.
Scott Kron, 43, is charged in Stearns County District Court with three felonies and one gross misdemeanor. A court complaint charging him with theft by swindle indicates he took more than $40,000 since 2008, but that he could only be charged with taking about $16,000 because the rest of the money was taken too long ago to file charges. The statute of limitations for theft by swindle is three years.
Kron admitted to at least one member of the baseball team and an investigator that he had taken the money, according to the complaint. He said he needed the money for house payments.
Kron was the mayor of Richmond at the time. He resigned from being team manager of the Richmond Royals before resigning as mayor in June 2014.
The theft involved money from the charitable gambling proceeds intended for the Royals. Investigators found numerous checks and credit card purchases that were for his personal use; in some cases he wrote a check for more than the amount owed and received cash back
In some cases he was using credit cards or checks to make purchases at local businesses where the team already had an account, making it unnecessary for him to have to pay with a check or card.
Kron is a native of Richmond, a town of about 1,400 people southwest of St. Cloud. He was elected to City Council in 2004. He resigned in 2007 after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was elected again to the council in 2010, and won the mayor’s seat by write-in vote in 2012.
His first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19.