Oregon woman accused of $400K Wash. fraud

OLYMPIA, Wash., May 17 (UPI) -- A 66-year-old Oregon woman has been charged with almost 200 counts of defrauding the Washington state labor department.

Lois Bachhuber, who plays organ at Oaks Pioneer Church in Portland, Ore., was charged with collecting around $400,000 worth of her dead mother's workers compensation checks.

Viola Elsner died in 1988, The Olympian reports.

Bachhuber was charged Monday with 150 counts of second-degree theft and 48 first-degree counts of theft after allegedly certifying to the Washington Department of Labor and Industries that her mother was still alive.

Bachhuber has a May 24 arraignment in Thurston County (Wash.) Superior Court.