State audit of Markle Fire Department Relief Association referred to Westmoreland DA after irregularities alleged

The state auditor general has asked the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office to look deeper into the financial operation of the Markle Volunteer Fire Department Relief Association in Allegheny Township after an audit allegedly uncovered evidence of missing money and other irregularities over a three-year period.

“Our auditors uncovered instances where checks were written and cashed improperly, which may have larger consequences,” Auditor General Timothy DeFoor wrote in a news release Thursday.

“I am asking the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office to take a closer look at our audit findings to determine whether any laws were violated,” DeFoor said. “The association board also is aware of our findings and fully participated in our audit.”

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli did not respond to a request for comment about DeFoor’s request for a review of the audit.

The relief association, which receives state funding to help pay for firefighting operations, is a separate legal entity from the Markle Volunteer Fire Department, DeFoor said.

The audit reviewed the relief association’s financial records from Jan. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2021, and said its former treasurer appeared to have written and cashed 12 checks made out to himself totaling $4,174, according to the news release.

Auditors said the association’s bank reimbursed the organization $1,050, but notes the failure to recoup the remaining $3,124 and not properly addressing the other findings could result in the state withholding future financial assistance.

The financial review also found that, among 68 checks drawn from the association’s account, one of them was only signed by a single officer instead of the required two.

Eleven other checks had two signatures, but the second name on the check “appeared to have been forged,” according to sworn affidavits provided to the state, DeFoor said.

The relief association “failed to establish adequate internal control procedures to effectively monitor transactions and ensure the propriety of all expenditures made from relief association funds” and that organization’s leadership was “unaware of its ineffective internal control system,” the auditor general said.

Also noted in the audit is the association’s failure to collect its full share of the money made available when a fire vehicle that was jointly owned by Markle and another fire department was sold.

Auditors said the relief association should have received $34,200 when the truck was sold but only collected $27,000.

Association officials disputed that finding, according to the report, telling auditors that Markle, in fact, only paid for the truck’s chassis and that it collected its full share when the vehicle was sold.

Auditors responded that their findings will stand because the details outlining the purchase and sale arrangements were not written into the agreement signed by the two fire departments.

Auditors said the failure to collect the remaining $7,200 also could jeopardize state funding in the future.

Other findings in the audit included:

• Purchases totaling $679 that were not authorized under state law. Auditors said the money was improperly spent on lighting for an all-terrain vehicle and to pay for pump certification for a fire truck.

• Failure to keep proper minutes for its meetings.

No phone number could be found for the Markle Volunteer Fire Department Relief Association. No one answered a call to the fire department, itself.

Allegheny Township Manager Gregory Primm said municipal officials are aware of the auditor general’s findings.

“I met with the officers of the relief association some time ago regarding the findings and every finding has been, or is in process of being addressed,” Primm said in a written response to the Trib.

“This includes the township assisting with them developing new policies and procedures to mitigate future problems and creating an accounting system that relies heavily on segregation of duties that enhances multiple people being engaged in transactions at all times,” Primm wrote.