Ryan Michael Koble, 40, Minot, who had been the branch manager at Wallwork Truck Center, is scheduled to make an initial appearance in district court on Nov. 4 on a charge that he embezzled about $100,000 from his employer. He is charged with Class A felony theft.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Koble made multiple unauthorized refund transactions, adding up to $100,737.28, to a credit/debit card between September 2018 and September 2019. The alleged thefts were reported to police after Wallwork Truck Center conducted an internal investigation.

Koble was questioned at the Ward County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 18. He allegedly admitted to finding a “loophole” in the system in July 2018. He refunded some of the money into his own bank account at Gate City Bank, but his wife asked him where the money came from. He told her it had been credited to his account by accident and then withdrew the money to pay it back to Wallwork. However, he did not pay Wallwork back. Instead, he opened another account at First International Bank and Trust and put the stolen money there. Once he got away with it the first time, he kept withdrawing money a couple of times a month until he was caught. Koble used the stolen funds to put a down payment on a new pickup and purchased a boat, golf clubs and two grills.

Koble fabricated invoices and refunds and acknowledged using the loophole he had found in the system so it wouldn’t affect the business’s inventory report.

He told the investigator that “he knew this day was coming.”