Youngwood man arraigned for alleged theft
BROWNSVILLE – A preliminary hearing was set for a Youngwood man who is accused of stealing approximately $40,000 from the Luzerne Township VFD while he served as treasurer there. John Joseph Thomas, 45, of White Street was arraigned before District Justice Herbert Mitchell Wednesday on charges of theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received. Thomas was released on his own recognizance, and a preliminary hearing was set for Oct. 29 at 9 a.m. before Mitchell.
According to the affidavit, after an audit conducted by W.B. Kania and Associates, Uniontown, revealed $30,000-$40,000 was not accounted for or missing, Luzerne Township VFD officials, James Harvey, Daryl Greg and Stanley Komacek reported the matter to state police at Belle Vernon.
In April 2000, a complete audit presented to trooper Michael Pisarchick indicated under- reporting was done relative to bar receipts and machine money receipts during 1996 to 1998.
During that time, according to the affidavit, Thomas was treasurer at the fire department. According to the affidavit from 1996 to 1998, a total of $5,638 was under-reported in the book of accounts.
The affidavit states that in 1996, the net income as reported by the bar manager, Tammy Buchiet, no address given, was $11,329. The net income recorded in the book of accounts was $8,294, an under-reporting of $3,035.
In 1997, Buchiet reported net income at $7,346. The amount recorded in the book of accounts was $5,534, an under-reporting of $1,812. In 1994, Buchiet reported $4,045, but $3,254 was recorded in the book of accounts, an under-reporting of $791.
The audit also indicated that between 1997 to 1998 recorded money machine receipts from Joe’s Machines totaled $34,185, but only $9,802 was recorded in the book of accounts, a $24,383 under-reporting.
In addition under the charge for “failure to make required disposition of funds received,” the affidavit stated that the accused collected $11,111.98 belonging to the fire department and failed to turn the money over.