Ex-VFD treasurer charged
A Bridgeville man is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 20 in Allegheny County Court on charges he stole $100,464 from Fairview Volunteer Fire Department in South Fayette Township, where he once served as treasurer.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, Frank DeThomas, 60, is charged with theft by deception, receiving stolen property, tampering with records or identification and theft by unlawful taking. He is free on his own recognizance but had undisclosed nonmonetary restrictions place on him by District Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet.
DeThomas served as treasurer of the fire department until he was voted out in December.
The fire department has a two-signature requirement for its checks, the complaint said. Blank checks were often signed and given to DeThomas, who would provide a monthly Excel spreadsheet of profits and losses, as well as a list of bills that were paid on behalf of the fire department.
After DeThomas was voted out of office, his replacement found multiple checks in excess of $1,400 written to Sarris Candies. The fire department contacted Sarris and discovered the candy maker had received only one department check.
Investigators said the canceled checks were obtained, and it was discovered one of the checks was payable to DeThomas. The department then got all of its canceled checks dating to 2009, when DeThomas became treasurer. The DA’s office said it was discovered that between December 2013 and December 2015, DeThomas wrote more than $100,000 in checks payable to himself. Officials said if an officer of the fire department buys something with his own money, he must put in a reimbursement request.
According to the criminal complaint, an investigation of the department’s QuickBooks accounting system, controlled by DeThomas, showed that the checks payable to DeThomas were accounted for as if they were written to legitimate vendors.
The complaint, filed Sept. 1, said DeThomas was shown copies of 40 checks totaling $100,465 payable to him in 2013, 2014 and 2015. DeThomas said he could not pay all of his bills on his salary and used the money from the fire department to supplement his income, the complaint said.