East Idaho Home & Garden Show organizers caught up in lawsuits alleging the other misappropriated funds
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IDAHO FALLS — Tyler Kraupp and Kimberly Bronson, two organizers of the East Idaho Home & Garden Show held annually in Idaho Falls, are caught up in a lawsuit against each other, each claiming the other misappropriated funds from the show.
The case, originally filed in February 2025, is scheduled for a jury trial in August.
Kraupp vs. Bronson lawsuit
Kraupp first filed a lawsuit against Bronson and several others. Court documents state Bronson and Kraupp both own 50% of KBTK Events LLC, which receives income from the event. The lawsuit alleges that Bronson received a net sum of $153,852 from company funds, while Kraupp received only $36,377.
Kraupp’s lawsuit also alleges that Bronson filed a false police report against Kraupp for embezzlement and fraud, which didn’t result in any criminal charges, and then defamed Kraupp by accusing him the crimes.
Bronson was sued by Kraupp for breach of fiduciary duty, defamation per se, tortious interference with business relationships, fraud and financial misappropriation, and civil conspiracy. Claims against Bronson of defamation per se, tortious interference with business relationships, and civil conspiracy were all dismissed in a later court order.
Others, including Lacey Marie and Carlos Fushimi, were also accused of defamation per se, tortious interference with business relationships, and civil conspiracy. As with Bronson, the civil conspiracy allegations against Marie and Fushimi were dismissed.
Fushimi was also accused of breach of contract over a $20,000 settlement agreement that required him to “refrain from making defamatory or disparaging statements about (Kraupp) or his business interests.”
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Bronson vs. Kraupp countersuit
In response to the lawsuit, Bronson countersued Kraupp, claiming he had wrongfully gained dominion of home and garden show proceeds, unjustly benefiting by over $80,000.
She claims that Kraupp made unauthorized personal withdrawals from funds obtained in connection with the show and used company funds to pay for alcohol, restaurants, his personal mortgage, trips to Las Vegas, a strip club and other personal expenses.
Bronson further accuses Kraupp of falsely reporting that East Idaho Home & Garden Show vendors signed up for the show, with the registration forms signed by Kraupp. The lawsuit states that Kraupp then made unauthorized charges to vendors and retained the resulting payments for himself.
Bronson also claims Kraupp sent an email offering to dissociate from KBTK Events LLC and “step away from the home and garden show immediately with no compensation or further involvement” and “transfer all rights, revenue and operational responsibilities for the expo to (Kimberly Bronson).” Bronson says in the lawsuit that she accepted this offer.
The counterclaims accuse Kraupp of conversion, unjust enrichment, fraud, abuse of process and breach of fiduciary duties — if the court determines KBTK LLC is a validly formed company.
Later court filings
In later court documents, Kraupp alleged that he and Bronson had a mutual agreement to use company funds to bridge personal and business obligations, with the understanding that they would need to repay the borrowed funds. Kraupp alleges that he honored this practice through 29 documented reimbursements to KBTK totaling $76,872, while Bronson wrote herself a dozen checks totaling $113,089.
“Just as Kraupp was using $32,117 from KBTK, Bronson was doing the same at the same time,” the documents state.
“There are questions of fact as to the agreement between Bronson and Kraupp regarding permitted uses of KBTK funds, including whether those funds could be borrowed for personal purposes, borrowed by the members for use of the funds by the members’ other businesses, and whether some withdrawals of KBTK funds were proper distributions to the members,” a court order states.
“Whether Kraupp actually misappropriated the funds at issue in this motion, or any of the KBTK funds, is yet to be adjudicated,” the court order states.
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Kraupp and Bronson on the case, but neither wished to comment.