Owner of Bemidji ski area charged with financial exploitation of vulnerable adult

The owner of Buena Vista Ski Area in Bemidji is charged with financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and stands accused of unlawfully transferring $1.5 million from her aunt’s trust, according to newly filed charges.

Prosecutors in Beltrami County charged Suzanne Thomas, 66, of Bemidji with the felony offense Thursday after a more than yearlong investigation into financial records.

The maximum penalty for financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult through the use of undue influence, harassment or duress carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and $100,000 fine.

Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson declined to comment.

Thomas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Her aunt, 95-year-old Muffy Dickinson, worked at Buena Vista for years. The Dickinsons opened the ski area north of Bemidji in 1949 and the family played a significant role in helping bring the Paul Bunyan and Babe statues to downtown Bemidji.

Thomas is accused of taking advantage of Dickinson’s “diminishing capacity documented in her medical and care records,” according to the charges.

“Investigators in both the sheriff’s department and human services adult protection unit have determined that Suzanne Thomas has become more and more involved in assisting M.D. take care of her affairs. Family members have reported that they have become increasingly concerned that Don and Suzanne Thomas have been exercising undue influence over M.D.,” charges state.

Dickinson’s trust includes land near the ski area. Charges say that in 2021, Thomas was nominated her aunt’s personal representative and given power of attorney, over Thomas’ eight siblings and cousins. Dickinson has no children.

Dickinson told a lawyer afterward that she did not understand the documents she signed that included conveying her home on 52 acres to Thomas. The conveyance was canceled and a family friend in Wisconsin was instead named Dickinson’s attorney-in-fact.

Dickinson’s declining health led her to a nursing facility where she was diagnosed with dementia. She has lived at Neilson Place in Bemidji since 2023 and is categorized as a vulnerable adult under Minnesota law.

Charges say Thomas continued visiting Dickinson. She took her aunt to a prearranged meeting at the ski resort in February 2024. At the meeting, Dickinson transferred land to her sister, Thomas’ mother Mariann Dickinson, who at the time was also in assisted living and nearing death.

Dickinson executed a new will that left her entire estate to Suzanne and Don Thomas despite lacking mental capacity, according to charges.

Thomas’ mother died in March 2024 and Thomas acquired control over all her mother’s and aunt’s property.

The next month, an adult protection social worker interviewed Dickinson who said she didn’t recall conveying any property and expressed confusion. She did acknowledge that “she sees Suzanne Thomas nearly every day and that Suzanne does most everything for her,” charges state.

“This interview, along with substantial medical documentation, establishes that Dickinson did not have the capacity to convey property and was unduly susceptible to Suzanne Thomas’ influence,” charges added.

In September 2024, Thomas’ sister petitioned the court for appointment as guardian of Dickinson and the court granted the petition on an emergency basis.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is now guardian and conservator of Dickinson. The agency filed a claim in court for the $1.5 million to be returned to Dickinson.