KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Phony receipts and other fraud covered up at least $180,376 in funds stolen from The Woodlands since 2000, and there is enough evidence to recommend criminal prosecution in the case, an assistant attorney general said.

The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission was told Friday that Eugene Brundige, one of six former employees fired so far in the scandal, had admitted to commission investigators that he converted around $47,000 for his own use.

“Mr. Brundige was involved in a scheme whereby he would submit requests for funds without providing any supporting documentation,” said Debra Billingsley, a Kansas assistant attorney general. “They looked like expenses for the racetrack but, in fact, they were not.

“These funds were apparently approved by August J. Masciotra,” the track’s former general manager and Brundige’s father-in-law, who also was fired.

Billingsley told commissioners that enough was known to recommend criminal prosecution of those responsible.

Masciotra recently filed a wrongful-termination action against the track in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. That case is pending.

The commission’s director, Tracy Diel, said none of the financial wrongdoing uncovered to date involved racing itself or the integrity of the track’s betting systems.