Helena businesses: Campaign treasurer charged with fraud stole thousands in venue deposits

A Democratic campaign treasurer charged with federal wire fraud in connection with her political advising business was also allegedly defrauding local Helena organizations, the Independent Record has learned.

Abbey Lee Cook allegedly stole thousands of dollars from local bands, businesses, individuals and the East Helena Public Schools district by collecting deposits for an event space she owned but had already been evicted from, according to her former landlord, several business owners and school officials.

Cook was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Montana on Aug. 20 with three counts of wire fraud for allegedly embezzling more than $253,000 from political candidates and organizations. Cook was a campaign treasurer and campaign finance compliance adviser for Democrats and left-leaning causes. Democratic Missoula Rep. Zooey Zephyr, for one, alleged in an Aug. 22 filing with the commissioner of political practices that Cook defrauded her campaign of $53,100.

According to court documents, Cook allegedly transferred money and property without authorization to multiple accounts and entities she controlled through her company, Abbey Lee Cook and Associates LLC, starting around September 2021.

But Cook’s alleged impropriety was not limited to her political consulting business, according to interviews conducted after she was charged. Representatives from Helena organizations including a church, East Helena High School and Cook’s former landlord outlined a series of bad business deals made by Cook through her event venue on Last Chance Gulch, the Windsor Ballroom. Cook also owned an entertainment company called Anchor G.

Neither Cook nor her attorney responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

The East Helena school district's 2025 prom at the Windsor Ballroom was canceled 23 days before it was supposed to happen, forcing EHPS teacher Christa Schoenfeld and other community members to reorganize the event at the school.

After touring the Windsor Ballroom with students in December, Schoenfeld said they gave Cook a $2,500 deposit for a DJ, sound equipment, lighting and a photo booth. But three weeks before prom was set to be held at the ballroom, Bigfoot Management Group, the property managers of the ballroom, told East Helena officials that Cook no longer had access to the facility.

Schoenfeld was interviewed in May by the FBI regarding the incident.

"I never thought I would use the words ‘FBI’ and ‘prom’ in the same sentence," Schoenfeld said.

Cook was told in February she was being evicted and would not have access to the space, according to Beau Stumberg, a partner at Bigfoot Management Group, which owns the building. Stumberg said he was contacted by the FBI.

Cook was given 30 days to leave the premises after “they just stopped paying their rent,” Stumberg said.

“We worked diligently to make those accommodations with her rent. We talked about payment plans and discounted her rent,” he said.

Prom was held at East Helena High in April, but Schoenfeld said the school has not seen the $2,500 it paid to Cook returned. Cook, however, still showed up at the prom and provided lighting and sound equipment.

Cook was allegedly going to figure out the difference in price and get back to the school district and offer a refund. That never happened, Schoefeld said. She added that the DJ also later approached the school district claiming they were never paid.

Stumberg said up until the last six months, Cook was fairly easy to work with, although she was semi-regularly late on rent.

“It felt like they were lying to us,” he said.

Stumberg said Cook also signed a 12-month agreement to sublease the space to King’s Cross Church in Helena in February after she found out she would be evicted from the property.

The Rev. Michael Johnson said the church came across the venue online and thought it was a good space for its roughly 150 members, but when signing the agreement, he said he was unaware of Cook’s eviction notice.

“We were in shock,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that it had been difficult to find a space big enough for the newly formed congregation in Helena. He said it was the first venue they came across that was large enough, but if Bigfoot Management Group did not know about the church’s sublease agreement, the church could have shuttered due to it being new and not having a space to worship.

“If she would have been honest about (her eviction), we probably would not have done it or talked to Bigfoot Management Group about (other options),” Johnson said. The church still operates inside the Windsor Ballroom after coming to an updated agreement with the property management group.

Cook had around 13 more events scheduled after she was notified of her eviction, according to Stumberg.

“The public’s perception was that she was paying her rent with the political money, but after the election season, there was nothing left,” Stumberg alleges.

Cook worked as the campaign treasurer during the 2024 election cycle for Zephyr, a state representative who gained national recognition during her first term in the Legislature.

“I believe Ms. Cook used her position as Treasurer of my campaign to intentionally misrepresent donations to my campaign as well as expenditures from my campaign in order to embezzle those funds for her own personal expenses,” Zephyr wrote in her complaint filed Friday with the commissioner of political practices (COPP). “Following my discussions with the FBI, I believe Ms. Cook also intentionally submitted fraudulent statements to the COPP in order to conceal her actions.”

Sen. Cora Neumann, D-Bozeman, said Cook defrauded her of an estimated $2,200 as an employee of her 2024 campaign as well.

In May of last year, Cook transferred $2,200 to her own bank account, Neumann alleged in her complaint with the COPP. Included in that complaint was a screenshot of the transfer and emails from Neumann to Cook threatening legal action if she did not return the money.

“We are into week 2 of waiting for your reconciliation of this $2200 transfer from my campaign account to your account to your account on 5/7…Please respond with any details and/or return any misdirected funds right away,” Neuman wrote in a Sept. 3, 2024, email.

The wire fraud charges appear to be largely tied to Cook’s work for political organizations and candidates. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Montana did not respond when asked if the local Helena organizations were any of the unnamed victims in the charging documents.

Stumberg said he got a lot of calls from people whom Cook signed renter’s agreements and leasing contracts with about getting refunds since their events were canceled, but he told them they had to contact Cook.

Stumberg said Montana PBS was also left out of a space for a planned event by Cook. Montana PBS Membership and Events Manager Erika Matsuda declined to comment on the matter.

In December, Cook told Stumberg she was going to collect deposits for events coming up in 2025 to pay the rent she was behind on, but this also never happened, the partner said.

Bands never got paid, a wedding reception was canceled and a comedy show was scrapped, along with other events expected to be hosted at the ballroom, according to Stumberg.

“I believed in what they were doing because it was important for the community,” Stumberg added. “... Now that I think back on it, it was all lies.”