Kraig Steven Ketelsen, a former accountant for Snow King Mountain Resort in Jackson, will face a felony theft charge on allegations he stole tens of thousands of dollars from the resort’s electronic payments system.
Ketelsen was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday, but waived it.
He’s accused of running a monthslong scheme involving the resort’s vendor payments and direct deposit records, according to court documents.
The alleged fraud included submitting invoices multiple times for payment, including one time when more than $20,000 was added to an invoice. The payments didn’t go to vendors, but instead to Ketelsen, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.
Court documents say the investigation began after the resort manager contacted the Jackson Police Department and accused Ketelsen of diverting company money while working in the accounting department.
Ketelsen has been charged with felony theft and two counts of felony forgery.
A Trail Of Vendor Payments
Investigators traced several transactions made through Snow King Mountain’s accounting software between December 2025 and February 2026, the affidavit says.
What they saw was an apparent fraud where Ketelsen would push through invoices multiple times, but on one of them he would add an extra amount to be paid electronically to a different bank account, according to the affidavit.
“On Dec. 30, 2025, Ketelsen uploaded a batch of invoices into Snow King Mountain’s accounting software,” the affidavit states in outlining an example. “This batch of invoices were uploaded approximately 10 times, showing a total to be paid on the invoice of $132,858.32.
“The 11th time it was uploaded into the software showed a total to be paid by Snow King of $153,358.32, indicating Ketelsen later added the $20,500 to the invoice.”
That $20,500 amount was paid to another account different from the other monies, the affidavit says. In that instance, Snow King’s chief financial officer approved the invoice.
Another instance happened just a few days later on Jan. 2, 2026, the affidavit says.
“Ketelsen again uploaded a batch of invoices to Snow King Mountain’s accounting software,” the document says. “A vendor on the invoice … was to be paid $10,000 to (another account number). During this transaction, Ketelsen sent it to (the CFO) for banking approval, which (he) approved.”
Ketelsen also sent the same invoice to the company’s general manager, who also approved it, meaning the same invoice was paid twice, with one of the payments going to the account linked to Ketelsen, the affidavit says.
Then on Feb. 6, 2026, the CFO examined Snow King’s direct deposit transactions and noticed that Ketelsen had allegedly changed his direct deposit to another bank and another account, the affidavit says.
Court records place the total fraudulent amount tied to the transactions at $45,754.88.
A request for comment from Snow King Mountain was not returned by publication time.
Bank Records And An Overseas Trip
Company officials also reportedly discovered that the account number tied to Ketelsen’s vendor profile matched the same account number listed for a vendor Snow King paid.
Two days after noticing this, investigators say the account information had disappeared from the vendor's profile.
When Ketelsen returned from a monthlong trip to Brazil on Feb. 10, Jackson police detectives met with him to confront the accountant about the discrepancies discovered by Snow King officials and investigators.
Detective Elley Votruba documented that Ketelsen “frequently travels out of the country to Panama, Brazil, and Colombia and is deemed a flight risk.”
Detectives then met with him at his office, where they read him his Miranda rights. The affidavit says that Ketelsen refused to speak with law enforcement.
What Happens Next
Ketelsen is out of custody on a $50,000 surety bond.
The case is headed to district court after his preliminary hearing was waived Thursday.
An arraignment, where Ketelsen is expected to enter a plea, had not yet been scheduled as of Friday, according to Teton County District Court.
If convicted of all three felony charges, he could get up to 30 years in prison, up to $30,000 in fines, or both.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
