Wife on trial over forging checks while husband was in Iraq

John Kieser intended to return from his tour of duty in Iraq to the Maplewood home he shared with his wife, Dana, their two young sons and her two children.

It didn't quite work out that way. By the time the staff sergeant in the Minnesota National Guard returned last July, Dana Kieser had cashed out his IRA account and the money he'd been saving for his children's college education, sold their Maplewood home and moved to Fargo, N.D., with their boys, now ages 6 and 4.

Dana Kieser, 38, now is on trial in Ramsey County District Court, charged with two counts of check forgery.

Defense attorney Ken Kohler insisted in his opening statement Tuesday that Dana Kieser had no criminal intent to defraud her husband. She believed she had a binding power-of-attorney and used the assets to buy a house in Fargo in both of their names.

The legal maneuvers, Kohler said, are about a bitter divorce and custody fight.

Assistant County Attorney Laura Rosenthal, however, said the IRA and 529 college-savings plan were in John Kieser's name alone. Dana Kieser closed out the accounts and cashed the checks totaling almost $25,000 without John Kieser's consent or knowledge while he was serving his country in Iraq, Rosenthal said.

John Kieser testified Tuesday that he prepared a will and a limited power of attorney when he first learned in August 2005 that he'd be deployed to Iraq.

The power of attorney would go into effect if he became "physically disabled, mentally incompetent or otherwise incapacitated" and unable to handle his affairs.

John Kieser said he believed his marriage was in good shape when he was sent to Iraq on March 30, 2006, after six months of training in Mississippi. He said he talked to his wife by phone once a week and exchanged e-mails three or four times a week.

On Nov. 30, 2006, he received six e-mails, including one from his sister that contained a real estate ad showing his home was for sale.

"I was thinking 'How could Dana even do this?'" Kieser said.

After getting no response to e-mails he sent to his wife, Kieser said he called Maplewood police in December 2006. That's when he learned their Maplewood house had been sold and his wife had bought a home in Fargo in September, he said. Later he learned that his IRA and 529 plan accounts had been cashed out.

"I learned how little Dana cared about me at that moment," he said. "I was shocked. My future wasn't looking real good at that moment."

Both checks were sent to their Maplewood home and made payable to John P. Kieser. Both were endorsed: "John Kieser, pay to the order of Dana Kieser.

"Dana Kieser, POA.

"POA viewed."

Under Kohler's cross-examination, John Kieser admitted writing to his wife that he would try to get the charges dismissed if they reconciled.

"And I asked her not to cheat on me," he said. "If she left again, I'd get my money back and get custody of the children."

He insisted that he never received any benefit from the cashed-out accounts or the house in Fargo.

Pat Pheifer • 651-298-1551