In this 2013 file photo, Tara Bilanski supervises a Bend FC Timbers soccer scrimmage at Mountain View High School.

When Tara Bilanski returned her work laptop three months after being fired as director of the Bend FC Timbers youth soccer club, the device contained evidence Bilanski had directed Timbers staff members loyal to her to alter contracts, delete incriminating messages and steal trade secrets, according to new court filings in the $733,000 lawsuit against Bilanski in Deschutes County Circuit Court.

The nonprofit soccer club’s board of directors maintains Bilanski did this to undermine her former employer and help establish her own youth soccer club to rival Bend Timbers.

“Let it burn, baby,” Bilanski allegedly wrote to a former colleague two weeks after her termination.

Attorneys for the Bend Timbers board have filed a motion to add claims against five other former Bend Timbers employees, four of whom now work for Bilanski’s new club, Apex FC.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said he’s aware of the recent allegations and his office is still investigating whether crimes took place.

“We’re looking at the case, and I have yet to make a charging decision,” he said.

Bilanski came to Bend Timbers with a stellar resume including stints on the coaching staffs of the women’s soccer teams at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington.

She was fired in August after six years as director, a position that paid $119,000 per year. Board members say concerns with her leadership were growing, and the results of an online poll confirmed a majority of parents agreed, according to court documents.

“Such concerns included, without limitation, concerns about her leadership skills, lack of and/or unsatisfactory communication, lack of professionalism, high coach turnover, favoritism, strategic planning and vision, collaboration with the Board, and transparency,” the lawsuit states.

According to the suit, Bilanski ignored repeated demands to return her work laptop for three months.

After it was handed over, digital forensics on the device revealed numerous texts coordinating attempts to misappropriate, alter and delete hundreds of documents, according to court documents.

The board’s investigation revealed Bilanski repeatedly accessed her former Bend Timbers email account without authorization and sent numerous emails containing hundreds of documents from her former Bend Timbers email address to her personal email address, according to the lawsuit. The investigation also allegedly revealed that Bilanski was acting in concert with others while engaged in this unauthorized activity.

“Okay you are officially deleted,” former Bend Timbers administrator Emily Williams wrote to Bilanski two weeks after Bilanski was fired. “I’m sure there is like a 20 days ‘restore’ period. But (the board) would have to dig.”

One text message exchange contained in the lawsuit depicts Bilanski and former operations director Jen Davin discussing retroactively altering their employment contracts so the soccer camp payments appear legitimate:

Bilanski: “but…if it’s in my contract, does that mean its part of my salary?”

Davin: “that could be confusing”

Bilanski: “Hmmm. Good point. Maybe we should remove? Or rewrite?”

Davin: “maybe it should be an addendum at the bottom of my contract. Additional pay received for camps or working other coaching programs? something like that?”

In the weeks following her termination, Bilanski remained in contact with Bend Timbers staff members loyal to her, according to court documents.

On Aug. 29, Bilanski and Williams discussed how, after downloading and deleting so many documents from the club’s Google Drive, they would be “screwed” if incriminating evidence is turned up by the Bend Timbers board.

“Dude — the s–t that I can see on the google admin is crazy,” wrote Williams. “Yeah — also we are all screwed as there is evidence of any file deletion or transfer … But I also will not give them full admin access for a long long time”

Bilanski: “Dang. Good to know”

Bilanski is accused by board members of pocketing more than $80,000 generated from the club’s soccer camps.

She says she received the disputed funds as part of a profit-sharing arrangement.

Because the court is considering whether to allow Bend Timbers to add claims to the suit, Bilanski has not yet had a chance to formally respond to the accusations against her or file counterclaims, according to her lawyer, Megan K. Burgess.

“She plans to vigorously defend herself,” Burgess told The Bulletin. “She remains a well-respected member of the soccer community in Oregon. We intend to focus our efforts on defeating the claims in court, rather than in the media.”

Burgess notes the text messages contained in the supplemental court filing have not yet been accepted by the court as evidence, nor have they been authenticated by a third-party.

A number of people involved in the controversy have been subpoenaed by the board’s lawyer. Several have raised objections with the breadth and depth of those court orders and the court has yet to rule on that issue.

Apex is currently attempting to join the Oregon Youth Soccer Association. The association board voted in December to not allow certification. In a meeting last week, the board voted to table discussion of Apex’s certification until the criminal investigation concludes.