The Firegeezer reported yesterday on a sad case involving two members of the Western New York State Cattaraugus Fire Department. They have been charged with the embezzlement of between $30,000 and $80,000 of Department funds raised.
It appears the powers that be in the Department did not do the proper “size-up.” I think in many instances, you can cut a crisis off before it happens by doing your due diligence.
As PIO’s we many times have to go into crisis communications mode when an incident involves the legal, ethical, or financial standing of our departments.
The embezzlement in Cattaraugus looks like a crisis that was waiting to happen. The scenario had two department members handling large sums of money who were charged with keeping the books.
Maybe I stand alone on this but in my role as PIO I have taken it upon myself, on several occasions, to offer advice and council on suspected crisis in the making to the Chiefs and Commissioners. By doing this I hoped to totally avoid having to deal with a full blown crisis or at least be able to keep the incident that caused the crisis internally contained and away from the media and public.
My size-up on this one would have revealed these touch points to the powers that be –
1. We have two guys in our Department, running a raffle that have full control over the handling of cash and facilitation of the promotion. We should have trust in them as individuals, but what checks and balances are in place that everything is above board. Who is providing oversight of cash collection and counting of proceeds beyond the raffle committee of two?
2. Our community members who make donations is essence become “shareholders” in our Department. Who is protecting their interests by making sure the dollars raised are being appropriated properly?
3. Any sense of misappropriation of funds will hurt our Department long after the raffle committee leaves the department.
Just as a line officer is responsible for reporting conditions on the fireground to the Chief, I think it is equally important, as PIO’s, that we report administrative conditions that could have potential negative ramifications on our Departments.
Two firefighters accused of embezzling
One has already pleaded guilty to the crime
Updated: Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010, 8:29 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 15 Mar 2010, 5:51 PM EDT
Posted by: Eli George
CATTARAUGUS, N.Y. (WIVB) – Two volunteer firefighters are charged in the disappearance of tens of thousands of dollars from the Cattaraugus Fire Department.
They ran the Bell Jar Ticket Game for the Department and now somewhere between $30,000 and $80,000 is missing.
39-year-old Edward Holtz of the village of Cattaraugus pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny for the taking at least $30,000 while running the Bell Jar Ticket Game to raise money for the Cattaraugus Volunteer Fire Department. The Treasurer of that Department, 52-year-old John Finnegan, was arrested last week and charged with offering a false instrument and filing false business records in the same case.
Only Holtz has pleaded guilty so far and he blames it on a gambling problem.
Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman said, “I don’t know if that’s true or not, that’s just what he’s saying, but it does seem to be getting more common and I’m not sure whether that’s the economy or gambling or both, but unfortunately these volunteer organizations, it’s hard because you don’t know if somebody has a history of that and it’s hard to find people that are willing to do it.”
John Finnegan is due back in court Tuesday. Edward Holtz will be sentenced June 21st and could get anything from probation to one to three years in jail.
Also on The Fire PIO…
- How do I Address a Judge? – November 18, 2010
- Looks like we are getting some Respect – December 7, 2010
No Comments