A former Vermillion Township clerk is accused of stealing more than $650,000 from the Dakota County township. Maryann Helen Stoffel, 70, of Hastings, was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with felony wire fraud, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis. The case is the result of an FBI investigation. According to published reports, from December 2012 through October 2020, Stoffel used her elected position as the township clerk to allegedly transfer the money into her personal bank account for her own use and benefit, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges. Stoffel is said to have concealed the alleged fraud from the township and state of Minnesota by excluding the unauthorized payments to herself on the township’s annual report. She has yet to make an initial court appearance on the charge.
