Eastern Derry Twp. VFD Chief, Wife Charged With Stealing Funds
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -The Eastern Derry Volunteer Fire Department in Westmoreland County has been shut down for a year because of money problems. They couldn't pay their insurance and fire trucks were repossessed.
Today, investigators revealed a big reason why they think there were money problems there.
The criminal charges filed today name former fire chief Derrick Bollinger and his wife, Regina, who served as the department secretary, as two big reasons for those problems.
The charges include theft and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities. They even pawned off firefighter safety masks, according to police.
Investigators say they can tie at least $60,000 in fraudulent activity to the Bollingers.
For example, when the department sought a loan to stay afloat, they say the Bollingers took advantage.
"They were using the funds that were released based on an improvement loan and some other loans that were taken by the fire department and were using this money for their own accord to furnish themselves with a vehicle and to pay off some other bills," said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani.
Their lawyer said to not make assumptions until all the accounting is finished.
"Fire departments have a unique type of accounting, I think would be the kind way to put it," says attorney Michael Ferguson, "And we have to really explore how this particular fire department was managing their funds and their accounting."
But, it was accounting that raised flags in the first place. When the department applied for a grant from taxpayers, the township supervisors had questions, and declined to give them a grant until a more full accounting was done.
"Once this started," said Derry Township Supervisor Vince DeCario, "We had people come in and say, you know, you guys are shutting this fire department down and we didn't shut it down. We just couldn't give taxpayer money away. It's not right."
State police say this investigation isn't finished and they're still reviewing the assets available to them. They're asking anyone with information about the department's finances or the whereabouts of its assets to contact them.
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