Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A Texas fire chief, his mother, and his sister have been arrested and charged with embezzling approximately $40,000 from the Iola Volunteer Fire Department. Fire Chief Earl Sword, his mother Wanda Sword (an accountant of the fire department) and his sister Samantha Kimich (the secretary for the fire department) were arrested and charged with second-degree felony theft. The alleged embezzlement occurred over the last two years.
An investigation was started after the fire department’s assistant fire chief informed police about alleged misuse of department funds. A request for the department expense statement to the county auditor stated that the Fire Chief Earl Sword had reported that all the financial documents were stolen from the department. Investigations revealed that fire department funds were used to pay for non-fire department related expenses.
