By Travis Kellar
The Times-Leader
WEST PITTSTON, Pa. — A former Exeter fire company treasurer ousted from her job amid an investigation into missing funds was charged Monday with stealing $67,315 from the department over a six-year period.
Stephanie L. McNeil, 34, was arraigned on felony theft and related charges before District Judge Joseph Carmody. She did not comment as she was led inside Carmody’s office. The thefts occurred between 2008 and 2014, according to arrest papers.
McNeil previously served time behind bars on charges she stole her mother-in-law’s credit card and racked up more than $500 in charges.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officials from the Exeter Borough Council approached the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office in March 2015 to open an investigation after it was determined several deposits for the Exeter Hose Company were never made into the company’s accounts.
Walter Kuharchik Jr., who had recently been appointed as the fire company’s treasurer in January 2015, told investigators that he believed there were shortages in several of the company’s bank accounts.
Investigators in March 2015 interviewed Exeter Borough secretary and treasurer Debra Serbin, who told investigators she became aware of the fire company’s financial issues in 2014. A representative of the Federal National Community Bank informed her the fire company had unpaid utility bills and lost their security coverage. The complaint indicates FNCB holds the mortgage for the fire company’s headquarters on Susquehanna Avenue.
After the discovery, several meetings were held with Fire Chief Rich McNeil, but no answers or explanations were provided nor were any notes or reports of those meetings kept, according to investigators.
Brenda Shaughnessy Jurchak, a member of the fire company for approximately two years at the time, was interviewed on March 31. The hose company opened a new bank account at Wells Fargo at the beginning of 2015 to “start over” after the fire company had problems with several other accounts.
Jurchak told investigators that at a fire company meeting on Nov. 14, 2014, it was discovered that a $1,000 check written by McNeil for the fire company’s annual fundraising barbecue had bounced twice.
Kuharchik’s son had to write a personal check to pay the vendor, investigators said. It was also determined that the approximately $3,000 raised from the fundraiser, which had been given to McNeil so it could be deposited, was allegedly never deposited into the fire company’s bank account.
When members of the fire company asked where the money was, McNeil allegedly “sat at the meeting and did not offer any explanations.” Investigators also said that while McNeil was responsible for providing monthly treasurer reports, there were some months where no such reports were created.
McNeil had been identified as being at the center of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the fire company for more than two years, according to archived reports. Officials at the fire company voted her out of office on Nov. 13, 2014.
Once she was voted out of her position, officials asked her to provide any and all fire company records. Investigators said “very little” was provided by McNeil.
Interviews with a longtime friend of McNeil’s led investigators to more revelations about alleged thefts.
Sometime during the summer of 2013, McNeil developed a dependency on prescription painkillers, investigators say.
Police said they spoke with Jennifer Grochal, a member of the fire company who had been a personal friend of Stephanie McNeil’s for about nine years.
Grochal told investigators that McNeil approached her and inquired if she knew of someone who could sell her some Vicodin and Percocet. McNeil allegedly informed Grochal that she had $100 to spend, and that she obtained the money from the fire company’s funds.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the fire company’s bank accounts dating back to 2007 at United Federal Credit Union in Wyoming, First Community Bank in Pittston and PNC Bank in Exeter. Investigators said two ATM cards linked to the accounts were linked to Thomas McNeil Jr., Stephanie McNeil’s husband, but added no criminal culpability could be connected to him.
From January 2008 to December 2014, investigators determined that McNeil allegedly stole $67,315.17. A breakdown of the alleged thefts indicate a total of $47,068 in ATM cash withdrawals, over $3,000 in fees and surcharges, and over $8,000 each in transactions at retail and convenience stores.
McNeil’s attorney, Peter Moses, said his client is innocent. She voluntarily turned herself in Monday, Moses said.
Moses said the district attorney’s office initially wanted Carmody to set a cash bail for McNeil, something he called “absolutely absurd.”
“We have known that these charges have been coming for over a year now,” he said. “We are not running, and we are not hiding from these charges.”
Moses added that he and his client are looking forward to the preliminary hearing and challenging the evidence. Arresting officers at the arraignment declined to comment.
McNeil, who is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 14, was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Copyright 2016 The Times Leader