Former Utah National Guard accountant accused of pocketing money from services program

DRAPER — A former accountant for a Utah National Guard program that offers recreational activities and discounted tickets to service members and their families is accused of pocketing more than $200,000 that was supposed to be paid to the program.

Mark Daniel Oleson, 55, of West Haven, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with communications fraud, theft and two counts of tax evasion, second-degree felonies; and four counts of filing a fraudulent tax return and two more counts of tax evasion, third-degree felonies.

In 2024, the State Bureau of Investigation met with representatives from the Utah National Guard at their headquarters in Draper, according to charging documents.

"They expressed concerns about unlawful activities committed by Mark Oleson and provided background as to how it was discovered," the charges state.

Oleson was an accountant for the National Guard's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program, which offers support services, recreational activities, and discounted tickets for service members and their families to places such as the Officer's Club, the Service Club, the Sunrise Hall Chapel, the adventure course where several recreational programs are held and RV rental spaces.

"(Oleson) was responsible for making the bank deposits, cash and check payments received from the various (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) programs, and reconciling the financial accounts for several (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) programs," according to the charges.

After Oleson resigned in 2024, "questions arose regarding payments received personally by Oleson for RV storage rent (a benefit offered to Utah National Guard soldiers through the (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) program) by way of Venmo," the charges state.

Part of the investigation included reviewing Oleson's Venmo records, which "found that Oleson received 53 payments to his personal Venmo account that appear to have been meant for (Morale, Welfare and Recreation)," the charges state. Investigators also reviewed bank records "and found 203 ATM cash deposits to Oleson's account between 2021 and 2024" totaling more than $190,000 and "found that 165 of the 203 deposits were made on the same day as (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) deposits."

Investigators further noted that 162 of those deposits were made at an ATM in Saratoga Springs about five minutes from Camp Williams, even though Oleson lives in West Haven, about 70 miles away.

"(Morale, Welfare, and Recreations) employees compared cash and check deposit amounts with their point-of-sale system records and identified discrepancies totaling $163,362. (Investigators) reviewed their analysis and found two days when the cash deposits to Oleson's account exactly matched the discrepancies identified by (Morale, Welfare and Recreation)," according to the charges.

"Between Feb. 8, 2021 and May 9, 2024, Oleson made 201 ATM cash deposits totaling $189,910 into his personal account. That averages out to approximately five deposits of $944.83 per month. By contrast, Oleson's account only shows three ATM cash deposits totaling $335 in the subsequent seven months after his employment with the MWR program ended."

Investigators concluded that "Oleson used his position as MWR accountant to solicit Venmo payments from (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) customers meant for goods and services provided by the (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) program, despite Venmo not being an authorized (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) payment method. Oleson directed (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) customers to make payments to a personal Venmo account that he controlled and was not associated with (Morale, Welfare and Recreation)," the charges state.

He further "failed to report this income on his Utah individual income tax returns for the years 2021-2024" despite having "extensive training and experience in finances and should have known of his obligation to report income on tax returns," according to the charges. "The total unreported gross income identified in this investigation is $254,986."

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