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Guilty Plea In Mayetta Fire District Embezzlement

By Brian Hagen

01/27/2014

(MSC News)--The former treasurer of Mayetta Rural Fire District #1 has pled guilty to embezzlement.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says, as part of the plea, 67-year-old Holton resident Richard Bontrager has agreed to pay more than $427,000 in restitution to the fire district.

Bontrager admits that he began embezzling district funds in 2008 by issuing checks with the forged signatures of members of the fire district's board. He made the checks payable to a phony company he called “R&S Services” which allowed him to deposit the checks into his own account at Denison State Bank.

The unauthorized tranfers occurred from 2008 to 2012.

Bontrager also falsified loan documents to obligate the fire district to montlhy lease payments on a Polaris Ranger and a 1988 Chevy truck. In order to make the payments appear legitimate, authorities say Bontrager created fake fire district board meeting minutes to make it appear the board had given approval to lease the vehicles.

Sentencing is set for April 14th, with Bontrager facing a maximum of 10-years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

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