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Kan. man accused of stealing $890,000 from mother

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A St. Marys man has been charged with stealing more than $890,000 from his mother's trust funds.

Prosecutors say Kent Joseph Gockel was charged Thursday with 11 counts of bank fraud stemming from actions in 2008.

Federal prosecutors say Kent Gockel started taking care of his mother's trust funds in 2002 after his father died.

Prosecutors allegeet that in 2007, Wilma Gockel learned that her son had been writing checks to himself or for cash after one of the funds was overdrawn. In 2009, she discovered that another of her accounts, which had contained more than $500,000, was nearly empty.

Investigators say they later discovered that Kent Gockel had withdrawn more than $391,000 from another one of his mother's account.