Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
We have covered a number of stories about theft in the volunteer fire service, but here’s a new one: a West Virginia mayor was charged with embezzling funds from the local volunteer fire department.
Grant Town Mayor Robert Dale Riggs has been arrested and charged with four counts of embezzlement, four counts of forgery and four counts of uttering, after he allegedly wrote and cashed four checks worth $9,310 from a Grant Town Volunteer Fire Department account.
The crime was discovered by the fire chief who became concerned about the four suspicious checks. The checks were drawn on the Grant Town EMS checking account between April 2011 and August 2011.
Riggs, who was also the fire company’s president, allegedly forged the counter signatures of the secretary and treasurer. He was released on a $6000 bond.
