Following the arrest of a former Selkirk Fire Department treasurer for allegedly embezzling funds from a firehouse, several people have resigned from the company, while the person who began the investigation was terminated.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Department arrested Heather Burns, the former treasurer of the Selkirk Fire Department’s House No. 3, in early February. Burns was charged with felony grand larceny after a months-long investigation by the sheriff’s department found more than $18,000 worth of unauthorized transactions from the fire company’s bank account.
“The Selkirk Fire Department is a close-knit family, and we are all saddened by the actions of one individual. The impact of those actions not only affect the members of the Department but the members of the South Bethlehem Community,” said Chairman of the Selkirk Fire Department’s Board of Fire Commissioners Charles Wickham, at the time of the arrest.
On Feb. 7, Burns turned herself in to sheriff’s investigators with her attorney and was charged with grand larceny in the third degree, a class “D” felony. Burns was arraigned in the Town of Bethlehem Court by Judge Ryan Donovan and was released on her own recognizance.
Wickham said following Burns’ arrest, two people resigned from the company. Her husband, Robbie Burns, and her father-in-law, Robert Burns, resigned as members from the fire company “to protect the department.”
“They resigned for the good of the organization,” said Wickham. “They were very upset about the whole matter.”
However, two people were suspended and one terminated by the Selkirk Board of Fire Commissioners for not following proper procedures when it came to the investigation.
The board terminated company president Kevin Craft, the person who first approached the sheriff’s department with the case, because he didn’t come forward to the board with the information he had. Two other members who knew about the investigation for a short time before the arrest were suspended for 20 days and are now back with the fire company.
“We have internal procedures when events like this happen, and they didn’t follow them,” said Wickham. “They are supposed to notify their superiors and they didn’t.”
Craft did not return calls seeking comment.
According to court documents, the investigation started after Craft noticed a payment to AT&T on the bank statements for the fire company. Craft then approached Burns about the charges, since the fire company did not have an account with AT&T.
Burns allegedly told Craft the payment was a mistake, and that she had “accidentally paid some personal bills” using the fire company’s bank account. Burns had been doing that from January 2012 to October 2013.
“Heather apologized for the mix-up and agreed to pay back the money,” Craft told Albany County Investigator Charles Higgins.
Craft told investigators he was later able to recover $1,885 from AT&T. However, he eventually found more discrepancies on the bank statements and approached the sheriff’s department for help on the case. Court documents showed Higgins told Craft not to discuss the case with anyone else, while investigators looked into the matter.
Burns was asked to step down from her position as treasurer several months ago when she was unable to provide financial statements to Company No. 3’s president.
Sheriff’s investigators conducted a three-month investigation, which led to the discovery of more than 40 unauthorized transactions from the fire department’s checking/savings account over the past two years. The unauthorized transactions consisted of money transfers, checks written to cash, checks written out to Heather Burns, cash withdrawals, direct web payments to credit cards, utility companies and insurance carriers.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said at the time of the arrest the thefts seem to be isolated incidents, and they do not believe other family or company members were involved.
None of the money taken came from taxpayers, but was raised through local fundraisers. Wickham said the department would be working to try to retrieve the stolen funds.
Burns has since been terminated as an active volunteer member within the company.
Wickham said to make sure another incident doesn’t happen again, financial reporting procedures have changed and an extensive audit was done of all department funds. The separate fire companies also recently merged into one department, so “the District is confident this will prevent any future thefts of department funds.”
Burns was set to reappear in Bethlehem Town Court on Tuesday, March 4.