Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The treasurer of the Hershey Volunteer Fire Department has been charged with stealing $129,864 from the fire company over a little more than a year’s time.
Thaddeus Lee Austin, 30 was arraigned today on charges of theft by deception and theft by failure to make required deposits. He remains in prison in lieu of $60,000 bail.
The fire company president noticed the problem in March and police were able to figure out what happened through a forensic audit. The audit revealed that Austin wrote fire department checks payable to himself and opened a debit card account from which he paid personal debts.
Austin was elected treasurer in January, 2012, meaning that he stole the money in just 14 months time. Fire Company President David Stough, who first discovered the financial irregularities, told the media:
"We would like to ensure the public that we have taken steps to secure our finances, and have implemented, and will continue to implement, more stringent financial controls. In the past, we have been a close-knit organization and extended trust to our officers as our brothers.
"This incident has brought the department together in the desire to continue our primary mission of serving our community, while at the same time instituting these tighter controls. We are fully insured for this loss, and will be working with our carrier to recover the missing sums in the near-term. We thank the community for their continued support or our operations and fundraising efforts."
