The Citizens’ Voice
READING, Pa. — Years before authorities began investigating alleged embezzlement from the Exeter volunteer fire company, the department’s leaders were warned to keep better financial records.
A recent report issued by the state auditor general found the fire department’s relief association ignored recommendations to properly document expenditures.
Problems with record keeping that were spotted in a previous audit — released in 2013 — were never corrected, according to a follow-up audit released last month by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
“We are concerned by the relief association’s failure to correct those previously reported audit findings,” DePasquale wrote.
DePasquale noted the entity “neglected to establish adequate internal control procedures to ensure supporting documentation is maintained for all expenditures.”
The relief association, which financially supports and is affiliated with the volunteer fire department, has many of the same officers as Exeter Hose Company No. 1.
DePasquale’s latest report, which says recommendations from the 2013 report were not followed, was released around the time Exeter Borough and fire company officials sought a police investigation into alleged embezzlement of hose company funds.
A criminal investigation is hovering over Exeter Hose Company No. 1, which suspended its treasurer, Stephanie McNeil, who is described in court papers as a suspect in the case.
Stephanie McNeil is not listed as an officer or treasurer of the relief association, the subject of the recently released audit.
The audit claims its officers — many of the same people leading the fire company, including her husband — were not keeping a close enough eye on finances.
McNeil is married to Thomas McNeil Jr., the nephew of Exeter Fire Chief Rich McNeil and Exeter police Chief John McNeil.
Thomas McNeil Jr. is president of the hose company and secretary of the relief association.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Thomas McNeil said Tuesday when a reporter visited his home trying to speak with his wife about the missing-money probe.
He didn’t return a message left on his cellphone Wednesday.
In addition to being fire chief, Rich McNeil is the vice president of the relief association.
On Monday, Rich McNeil called the investigation “political” and that it’s being done “in retaliation to hurt the McNeil family name.”
But police suspect criminal wrongdoing, saying it appears the hose company’s bank card was repeatedly used for cash withdrawals — a violation of hose company rules.
Stephanie McNeil was ousted as treasurer after her October 2014 arrest on forgery and theft charges for allegedly stealing her mother-in-law’s credit card to make unauthorized purchases. After Stephanie McNeil, 33, was removed, fire department members learned they owed nearly $20,000 to creditors and that she never deposited $3,000 in proceeds generated by the fire company’s popular annual barbecue chicken dinner, according to search warrant affidavits filed in the case.
Luzerne County detectives and an Exeter police officer continue to investigate. District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said that because of the family connections in the case, the investigation is being shielded from the McNeil family and any Exeter police officers except for the one who did a lot of the initial work on the case.
The latest audit of the relief association doesn’t allege any suspected theft, but said the organization did not keep good enough records to document how it spent money.
The audit, which looked at the years 2012 and 2013, also found:
- The relief association did not maintain detailed meeting minutes that would document all financial-related transactions that occurred during the audit period.
- A $3,000 loan the association gave to the hose company on June 12, 2013 had not been repaid within a year, as required.
- There was no defined policy of how the association administered death benefits to members of the fire department.
It’s unclear what ramifications, if any, the audit findings will have on the relief association.
Exeter Borough government has loose connections to the relief association, as it pays fire insurance tax money to the relief association, the audit says.
While the fire department is primarily volunteer, the borough pays for round-the-clock service of a fire engine driver and gives the hose company about $10,000 per year for expenses.
Exeter Councilwoman Denise Adams, who leads the committee that oversees the fire department, said the borough’s attorney advised council members not to address the issue because of the ongoing investigation.
“We were instructed not to discuss it, so I’m not going to discuss it,” Adams said.
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