A Keokuk businessman charged with taking money from a housing partnership may find his own home is a prison cell.
A corporation bought the former River Hills Nursing home when it went under in southeast Iowa more than two years ago. One member, 62-year-old James Withers, didn’t put up any money to be a part of the corporation, but agreed instead his contribution was to be overseeing the remodeling of the building into a student dorm to house the Southeastern Community College girls basketball team. Players lived in the leased building for two school years, but there weren’t enough students to meet the school’s contract with the corporation.
Looking through the books, corporation auditors say they found checks Withers had written to himself — 49 checks just in the year 2004. He’s now charged with first-degree theft. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as many as ten years in prison.