By Bill Wichert
The Eastern Express-Times
STOCKERTOWN, Pa. — The borough’s former fire chief has been accused of stealing more than $24,000 from the Liberty Hose Fire Co. No. 1 during roughly the final year before the municipality dismissed the volunteer squad in late 2006.
Joseph E. Catino Jr., 37, of the 6000 block of Short Road in Plainfield Township, stole $24,186.45 from the fire company’s two bank accounts, starting in November 2005, according to court papers.
Catino admitted last month to taking $2,000 out of money provided by the municipality to the fire company, according to court papers.
Catino was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge John Capobianco and released on $25,000 unsecured bail. The charges against Catino are theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, theft by unlawful taking or disposition and receiving stolen property.
Calls made to Catino and his attorney, Charles Gordon, were not returned Tuesday.
At a borough council meeting in November 2006, Catino said the criticisms over his handling of the department were personal attacks and a vendetta against him and his family.
“Take your pot shots at me. I don’t care,” Catino said at the time. “We’ve never not protected this borough.”
One of the issues leading up to the borough’s decision to remove Liberty Hose as the fire services provider was the fact that the fire company’s financial statements were never submitted to the governing body during Catino’s eight-year tenure as chief.
Borough council members said Tuesday they weren’t surprised to learn of the charges filed against Catino, whose nickname was “Tiny.”
“The whole situation is sad,” said council President Amy Richard, adding that Catino has to deal with the consequences of his bad choice.
The charges filed against Catino follow a 2009 audit conducted by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. That audit revealed that Catino had failed to deposit state aid money as well as multiple questionable expenditures involving Liberty Hose accounts, according to court documents.
The first alleged theft outlined in court documents involved a November 2005 check for $2,365 paid to Catino.
Authorities also determined that between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2006, Catino made 83 ATM withdrawals and another 10 cash withdrawals totaling $19,821.45 from the company’s bingo and small games account, according to court documents.
After receiving two checks totaling $7,055.67 from the municipality in October 2006, Catino kept $2,000 in cash and deposited the remaining $5,055.67 in the bingo and small games account, court documents state. Those two checks were supposed to be deposited in the company’s relief association account, court documents state.
Stockertown Mayor Sherman Metzgar said Tuesday that if one is in a leadership position, one should represent oneself in the highest manner.
“You shouldn’t be stealing,” Metzgar said.
Since dismissing Liberty Hose, the borough has relied on the Forks Township Fire Department for firefighting services.
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