VANCOUVER, Wash. — The manager of American Legion Post 176 in Vancouver is facing multiple charges, including theft, for allegedly stealing $153,590 from the post. In a text message, Rene Cavenaile admitted to her colleagues that she had been stealing from the post, court documents say.
The alleged theft happened between April 2022 and December 2023. Cavenaile worked at the post for more than two years, according to the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC), which licenses the post's gambling activities.
WSGC agents conducted a routine compliance investigation at the post on Dec. 5, 2023. They requested to review check registers and bank statements for the post's gambling account. Cavenaile "appeared nervous and frustrated" when asked for the records, according to a probable cause document filed earlier this month. She told agents that she would have to look for some of the requested documents and would provide them later.
Cavenaile told investigators that she was leaving to care for her sick husband before the inspection could be completed.
According to the probable cause document, Cavenaile then sent a group text message to several members of the post, telling them that she had been stealing money from a gambling account and transferring it to her personal account.
Her text said, in part, "I have a serious gambling problem that led me to do the unthinkable, by taking from the mouth that feeds me. I tried to stop but the urge was too strong for me. The gambling commission will find out the truth today."
On January 2, 2024, a WSGC agent obtained a search warrant for Cavenaile's bank accounts. The agent determined that Cavenaile wrongfully obtained money from nine different American Legion Post 176 accounts and made 136 unauthorized mobile banking transfer withdrawals to her personal banking accounts, the probable cause document says.
Cavenaile has been charged with theft in the first degree, theft in the second degree-access device, theft in the second degree, forgery and violations relating to fraud, deceit, altering or misrepresenting, betting or gambling.
