Couple Charged With Stealing N.Y. Fire Funds

Oct. 08--An Otsego County couple are facing charges stemming from the embezzlement of funds from the Cherry Valley Fire Department and Rescue Squad -- after the husband allegedly bought a flat-screen television with stolen money, authorities confirmed Friday.

Mark and Kathleen Crandall of 83 Montgomery St., Cherry Valley, were arrested by state police Aug. 31 after state police delved into discrepancies that turned up in an initial audit by firefighters, officials said.

Mark Crandall, 62, the treasurer for the fire department and rescue squad, faces the more serious of the charges: two counts of grand larceny and two counts of falsifying business records. Sources said he purchased the 32-inch flat-screen TV at a Herkimer County department store.

Kathleen Crandall is charged with one count of forgery after she allegedly altered a check to make it payable to herself, troopers said.

All told, approximately $19,000 was allegedly stolen -- most of it from the rescue squad, troopers said.

State police confirmed the arrests after a tipster notified The Daily Star that the Cherry Valley Fire Department had recently been victimized through an embezzlement scheme.

The attorney for the fire commissioners, Dennis Laughlin, said firefighters felt betrayed when they learned that one of their own in a trusted position had allegedly helped himself to department funds.

"Any time you have a volunteer community-based organization such as the fire department, you don't expect that one of your own is going to take money for his own personal use," Laughlin said in a telephone interview.

Said Cherry Valley Fire Chief Martin Field: "We were very surprised. Mark had been with the fire department for 15 to 20 years. I don't think people are as angry as they are disturbed that he took so much money."

The department recently notified Mark Crandall that he has been terminated as treasurer, the chief said.

Laughlin said the investigation showed Mark Crandall made inaccurate entries in financial ledgers to cover up for the thefts, he said.

But suspicions grew when it was noticed that Mark Crandall had used department money to buy a trash can and a shovel from a Cherry Plain hardware store -- items that were never delivered to the fire department, he said.

"Things just weren't adding up," Chief Field said.

Laughlin said if the Crandalls are convicted, the fire department will ask the Otsego County District Attorney's office to seek full restitution. "This is money that came from the community," Laughlin said. "Some of it was donated and some of it came from local taxpayers."

The case is being handled in Richfield Town Court because Cherry Valley village justices have recused themselves. The Crandalls are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 22. They are being represented by attorney William Shebaum. The Daily Star contacted Shebaum's Oneonta office Friday and requested a comment. There was no response to that message.

While the alleged theft puts a strain on the 55-member department's finances, Chief Field said, "We'll overcome this and get through it. We'll pull together and we'll be all right."