Former Indiana sheriff's daughter latest to be charged in alleged family corruption scheme

March 9 (UPI) — The daughter of former Indiana Sheriff Jamey Noel has become the latest member of the ex-official's family to be arrested, charged or investigated as part of a broad investigation into corruption in Clark County.

Kasey Noel, 27, was arrested Friday on suspicion of misusing funds from a local volunteer firefighter's association for personal purchases. According to court records obtained by local media, Kasey Noel was charged with five counts of theft and four counts of tax evasion.

Investigators said they found more than $108,000 in charges Noel charged to Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association credit cards between 2019 and 2023. They said the charges included personal expenses such as clothes, tanning, food, traveling, alcohol, shopping on Netflix and Amazon.

They also noted more than $295,000 in “personal” charges incurred by Kevin Wilkerson, who served on the firefighters' association board of directors from 2018 to 2023.

Kasey Noel worked as an administrative assistant for her father, who was arrested in November and faces 25 criminal charges, including theft, ghost employment and tax fraud. He pleaded not guilty.

His mother, Misty Noel, was arrested last week and faces 10 felony counts of theft and tax evasion. She also pleaded not guilty.

On Friday, police also filed a motion to reopen the estate of Jamey Noel's brother, William “Leon” Noel. They claimed Jamey and Kasey Noel pocketed more than $100,000 from the sale of her brother's property after his death in 2018.

According to documents, Jamey Noel was the executor of his brother's will, which included a bank account, a house and another house.

Investigators said Kasey Noel bought the house from Leon Noel in 2019 for $180,000, “significantly” less than it was worth. Her father then gifted her $36,000 of home equity and failed to repay that amount to the estate.

Jamey Noel wrote two checks for $36,000 to his brother's children in 2019, but they bounced due to insufficient funds, according to court documents. Investigators said the children were unaware of these events until Noel was charged in November.

Kasey Noel is being held without bail in the Scott County Jail. She is due to appear in court on Monday.