Former Lehi museum director accused of spending nearly $300K on herself
by Pat Reavy ksl · KSL.comLEHI — The former executive director of the Hutchings Museum in Lehi, who had charges of stealing items from the museum dismissed last year, is now accused of spending nearly $300,000 of museum funds on herself.
Daniela G. Larsen, 51, of Saratoga Springs, was charged Tuesday in 4th District Court with unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary, communications fraud, theft, and two counts of unlawful use of a bank card, all second-degree felonies. She was also charged with unlawful possession of a bank card, a third-degree felony.
Larsen was hired in 2018 to be the executive director of the Hutchings Museum, located at 55 N. Center Street. But in December 2023, Larsen was fired, and members of the museum's Board of Directors discovered that she "had used the Hutchings Museum's funds to pay her personal expenses including multiple personal trips, gas station bills, restaurant expenses, and credit card bills. Additionally, the defendant opened an illegitimate, unapproved bank account, secured multiple financial transaction cards and obtained an unauthorized loan in the museum's name," according to charging documents.
Investigators say Larsen used the bank cards and the "illegitimate bank account ... to pay for her own expenses" rather than for museum expenses, the charges state.
Between 2019 and 2024, Larsen misappropriated nearly $300,000, according to the charges, including spending more than $275,000 "for personal use" items such as "audiobooks, cell phone payments, entertainment expenses, food delivery charges, auto insurance payments, payments to various retail stores, service station payments, additional travel expenses, utility payments, withdrawals from the bank accounts, credit card charges, and credit card payments."
At least two board members told investigators that Larsen also "took multiple trips claiming they were 'business' related. The trips included excursions to Moab and Wellington ... and Louisiana. (The board members) state that (Larsen) did not follow the normal process for getting approval for these alleged business trips," the charges state. It was determined that Larsen spent more than $15,000 on those trips.
In 2024, Larsen was charged with theft, a third-degree felony, for allegedly moving "furniture and other items belonging to the museum out of the old train museum to create office space for herself." Four benches and a refrigerator from the museum were found at a consignment store in Lehi, where the store manager "confirmed that (Larsen) had worked out a deal with her to trade items," according to charging documents.
The case was dismissed, however, at the preliminary hearing stage at the request of prosecutors due to witness issues.