By Lara Nicholson
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
MARRERO, La. — A state audit published recently revealed that over $138,000 was misappropriated from a volunteer fire company on the West Bank over the course of five years, resulting in the termination of an employee.
The audit, which covered finances from 2024 and 2025, said that the Marrero-Estelle Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 identified $138,770 in misappropriated employee payroll funds from improper insurance premium withholdings and remittances, dated between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2024.
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Auditors also criticized the fire company for not catching the mishandled funds sooner nor alerting the proper authorities.
The company discovered the misappropriations after hiring an independent CPA firm to conduct an investigation, which found that payroll withholdings had been deducted improperly for certain employees both over and under the correct amounts.
That investigation identified an employee believed to be intentionally responsible and the employee was terminated as a result.
The matter was referred to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the investigation remains ongoing. No charges have been filed, and the company has not yet sought restitution from the employee, according to the audit.
The fire company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.
The company recovered $126,275 of those funds from an insurance claim, leaving roughly another $12,500 unaccounted for.
Auditors dinged the company and its internal controls for failing to detect the improper activity, and for failing to notify the Louisiana Legislative Auditor or Jefferson Parish District Attorney of the misappropriations in writing sooner, as required by law.
Auditors recommended that the company implement new policies requiring independent review and documented approval of all payroll deductions, restricted system access for payroll deduction changes and other changes.
In a response, fire company leaders concurred with the audit’s findings and said they implemented several new payroll controls and policies for notifying required parties of suspected misappropriations.
The Marrero-Estelle Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, a nonprofit entity created in 1951, provides firefighting, rescue service and fire code inspections to a designated area of the West Bank’s Eighth Fire District.
The company receives most of its revenue — about $2.8 million in 2025 — through its contract with Jefferson Parish, set to expire on Dec. 1, 2027. For 2025, the company reported about $3.4 million in expenditures.
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