Former Leaders Charged With Stealing Thousands From Volunteer Fire Company

Two former leaders of the Falls Township Fire Company have been charged with stealing from the volunteer organization.

Former fire company President Gary N. Margerum, 61, and former fire company treasurer and President Christopher Carlin, 48, both of Falls Township’s Levittown section, were charged Monday morning with the theft of funds from the organization that is based in Fallsington.

The men face a single charge each of theft by unlawful taking or disposition. Margerum was arraigned via video Monday morning before District Judge Jan Vislosky and released on $50,000 unsecured bail, and Carlin was slated to be arraigned Monday afternoon.

According to an affidavit of probable cause signed by Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia, Carlin stole $34,896.59 from the fire company and Margerum stole $11,198.22 from the fire company. The thefts largely happened through unauthorized credit card transactions.

Sources close to the fire service have told LevittownNow.com the investigation stemmed from questions about finances that began cropping up inside the fire company. In court papers, Landamia wrote that he was alerted by the fire company board of possible problems during an internal theft investigation in January 2018.

The fire company’s review of their financial records discovered that Carlin used the fire company’s credit card to make personal purchases without authorization between September 2013 and December 2017. Between October 2013 and December 2016, Margerum used the card to make unauthorized personal credit card purchases, according to court records.

There was also a $3,035 withdraw from the fire company’s account that did not correspond to any fire company expenditures, the review indicated.

In addition, it is alleged that Margerum used to the fire company credit card to purchase two power washers that were never delivered to the fire company.

Further review by the fire company allegedly found that Carlin had $12,186.87 in checks issued to him by the fire company between December 2010 and October 2016.

In court papers, it is noted that Margerum was president of the fire company between 2009 and 2016. Carlin was treasurer and served as president in 2017 after Margerum resigned from the position due to a request from township officials and investigative reporting from news organizations, including LevittownNow.com. The fire company confirmed that both men were longtime members of the fire company before their outsters.

It is noted in arrest papers that both men had fiduciary responsibility over the fire company funds while they were in power.

Bucks County Detectives allege that Carlin made $24,688.96 in unauthorized purchases using a fire company Visa card that was in his name and $12,186.87 in fire company checks were issued to him. Of the checks, $8,690.13 were unauthorized and there were two invoices paid out that were found to be fraudulent.

Margerum, according to detectives, made $9,279.74 in unauthorized purchases using the fire company credit card in his name. He also made $400.68 in unauthorized purchases on the fire company’s Home Depot card.

In addition, both men co-signed a withdraw for $3,035 from the fire company account for rental of a house down at the New Jersey shore, authorities said.

Members of the fire company were allegedly told the house was gifted by a vendor from which the fire company made a vehicle purchase.

In the fire company’s 2016 IRS Form 990 Schedule L, the filing included mention that Carlin had used the “organization’s credit card … for personal expenses.” It also noted the fire company was working to substantiate claims the money had been repaid.

Margerum resigned from the presidency in October 2016 after being asked by the Falls Township Board of Supervisors. Following growing discomfort in the local fire service community and changing state regulations, news organizations reported that Margerum was convicted of official oppression and corruption of minors in 1989. In addition, he pleaded no contest to indecent assault. He was ordered to serve probation and 300 hours of community service. Online court records indicate that Margerum was also required at the time not to work as a police officer.

Arrest paperwork filed by county authorities in 1989 said a 15-year-old Levittown girl told them Margerum, then a 31-year-old Tullytown police officer, kissed and fondled her in a patrol vehicle at a park in the borough without her consent before dropping her off at a shopping center. The alleged incident happened in 1988 but the case did not make court until the next year.

Despite Margerum resigning from the fire company in October 2016, court documents filed Monday allege he used the credit card for personal purchases through December 2016. The exact purchases were not detailed.

Carlin was removed from the fire company in December 2017, court papers state.

While the fire company does receive $125,000 annually in township taxpayer funds, Falls Township officials have little authority over many of its operations. The fire company also applies for grants and does its own fundraising.

The fire company was granted nonprofit status by the IRS in the late 1980s and is an independent organization that reported $1,925,976 in net assets, according to its 2016 IRS 900 form.

The money was allegedly stolen from the Falls Township Fire Company, but the fire company is also associated with the Falls Township Fire Company No. 1 Fireman’s Relief Association, a seperate body that is affiliated with the fire company and handles receipt of “foreign fire insurance tax funds.” The bodies, unlike fire companies, are audited regularly by the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office for any problems that need corrective action.

The most recent audit was released in early 2017 and covers the period of January 2014 to December 2015. It found that the relief association handled funds properly and took “appropriate corrective action” to fix relatively minor past dificenies.

“While it is sad that this occurred, the fire company is proud of its overall record and performance for the citizens of Falls Township. We intend to ensure that this issue never repeats itself and dedicate ourselves to better serve the residents of Falls Township,” the Falls Township Fire Company said in a statement on the charges.

Falls Township issued the following statement:

Since January, Falls Township has been cooperating with the current leadership of the Falls Township Fire Company and the Bucks County Detectives as they collaborated on an investigation into financial improprieties by two former members of the Fire Company.  Today, justice was served as those two former members were arrested. Those two members not only violated the public trust, they violated the trust they shared with their fellow firefighters. We are proud of the way the current members of the Falls Township Fire Company handled this difficult situation, and congratulate them for shining a light on these illegal actions, for their constant cooperation through the past seven months, and for the actions they have already taken to prevent such behavior from happening in the future. The current members of the Falls Township Fire Company and their leaders have exemplified the kind of commitment to our community that we expect, and have the full confidence of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.