The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

January 1, 2009

Former banker’s civil suit delayed

Criminal case must play out first for Jon Kietzer

By Dan Nienaber

MANKATO — A former Mankato bank vice president’s lawsuit against a special agent with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has been put on hold by a federal judge.

Jon Kietzer, former Community Bank vice president, filed his lawsuit in October against special agent Doug Forsman and Forsman’s boss, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Campion. The lawsuit is seeking damages for the alleged “illegal, unconstitutional and torturous conduct” of Forsman during a fraud investigation.

Within weeks after the lawsuit was filed, Kietzer was charged with theft by swindle and forgery, both felonies. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham then issued an order staying any proceedings for Kietzer’s civil case until the criminal case is resolved.

Both Kietzer’s attorney, Randall Knutson, and the Attorney General’s office, which is representing the Department of Public Safety, agreed to the delay.

Forsman’s investigation came to light in October 2007 after Kietzer and another local businessman were questioned about their involvement with a nonprofit organization called the Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation. Forsman’s investigation focused on a 2005 property transaction between that organization and Kietzer.

The charges against Kietzer accuse him of using a false appraisal for a house and land he sold to the nonprofit, then issuing the organization a $100,000 line of credit. Kietzer’s bank records were searched during the investigation.

Court documents justifying the search described Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation dealings as an “elaborate shell game” where charitable gambling funds were shifted through complicated account transactions.

Kietzer’s federal lawsuit claims Forsman attempted to intimidate him into a confession on Oct. 23, 2007. Kietzer claims he was forced to put on a jail jumpsuit but wasn’t allowed to call an attorney or anyone else after he agreed to meet Forsman at Mankato’s Law Enforcement Center.

Kietzer was allowed to leave the jail at 5 p.m., more than six hours after he arrived. When jail records were checked by The Free Press in November 2007, there was no documentation of Kietzer being officially arrested.

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