Misdirected’ $6K May Lead to Criminal Charges

WEST HAZLETON, Pa. — Membership of the embattled West Hazleton Ambulance Association on Saturday voted to request the filing of criminal charges against the association’s former treasurer.

Craig Kocher, the borough councilman who oversees ambulance and fire protection, said on Sunday that association President T.R. Laputka informed him that a majority of the membership voted to pursue charges after about $6,000 in association funds was “misdirected.”

Kocher said there were “conflicting reports” on whether the misdirection of funds was intentional or unintentional.

Laputka declined to release the name of the treasurer on Sunday. He said he planned to contact law enforcement officials today.

“I really can’t say anything more about it because of the (pending) criminal investigation,” Laputka said.

Kocher said Laputka informed council last week that officials discovered about two months ago that the money was missing from the volunteer association’s bank account, and that the person responsible for the money had returned the money and resigned.

Kocher said council discussed the situation in a closed-door executive session during a budget meeting last week and decided to take a hands-off approach to the situation and that the association membership “should do what they feel is right. T.R. earlier made the statement that they wouldn’t press charges,” Kocher said.

It remains unclear what prompted the membership’s vote to press charges on Saturday.

Kocher said that as far as council is concerned, “everything else (with the association) is fine, other than that issue. They’ve been doing good with all their calls.”

Laputka said the association’s call fulfillment rate for 2008 was 91 percent. He said the national average is only about 70 percent for volunteer ambulance associations.

Problems with the association’s response rate, as well as its financial handling, surfaced publicly in December 2007 after the membership voted to oust the current officers and replace them with life members of the organization who rebuilt the association after internal problems arose about 10 years ago.

Several association members had said internal fighting among officers and members led to several volunteer members quitting and the association’s inability to respond to a minimum of at least 90 percent of its calls every month. That is required by borough council for the association to retain its first-responder status for basic life support, or BLS, calls.

John Domagauer, who replaced Laputka as association president in December 2007, raised concerns about association finances, and members voted to suspend the spending of any money except paying bills such as utilities until after an audit was completed.

Then in February 2008, just days before a state investigator was to begin a probe of association records, association members conducted what Domagauer called “an improper meeting” and voted to oust him and the other officers who requested the investigation.

Domagauer, at the board’s recommendation, had called the state Bureau of Charitable Organizations to request an investigation “because we were finding more questions than answers as we were going through the financial records and personnel records,” he had said.

Domagauer had said the board canceled the regular association meeting that was to follow the board meeting “because we felt it was prudent not to conduct any further association business until we could talk with the investigator.”

Domagauer had said he learned that about a dozen association members had a meeting anyway. That meeting, he said, was chaired by the association treasurer.

On Sunday, Domagauer said he still believes the Bureau of Charitable Organizations should have investigated. “Whether or not problems would have continued, I have no way of knowing. Obviously, if somebody took money that didn’t belong to them, charges should be filed and they should be made to go through the legal process,” Domagauer said.

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