Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash is seeking a special prosecutor in the case of a former Hope Volunteer Fire Department treasurer who the state says owes nearly $50,000 to the department because of financial improprieties.
Nash last week requested the special prosecutor, who will look into the findings of an Indiana State Board of Accounts audit about Mathew Mathis, the former fire department treasurer.
The state audit, released in December, said Mathis owes $48,252.21 for a variety of financial improprieties, including issuing checks to himself without supporting documentation, more than $31,000 in undocumented cash withdrawals and failure to deposit money from fundraisers and other events into fire department accounts.
Nash said he decided to seek a special prosecutor because of the number of cases involving township trustees and volunteer fire departments in Bartholomew County.
He is seeking special prosecutors because he does not want the appearance of picking and choosing which to prosecute through his office, while others receive a special prosecutor, he said. Instead, all the cases involving the fire departments and trustees offices will have the request for the special prosecutor to make sure they are handled the same way, he said.
In December, Hope Fire Department officers said Mathis was on suspension and not on the fire department roster, and could not provide contact information for him.
Mathis became treasurer of the department in December 2014 when his longtime predecessor Edwin Stone declined the nomination for another term as treasurer. After an audit was completed of the fire department’s financial records under Stone, the records were to be turned over to Mathis.
Kenny Chandler, a retired certified public accountant and emergency medical technician who does the department’s tax returns, said the suspected improprieties with fire department finances came to light in April or May of 2016.
This was around the time the town of Hope and the fire department were in negotiations for a new contract amid concerns about the department’s finances.
As the person who prepares the department’s tax returns, Chandler said he was gathering the distribution books and bank statements to begin putting together the department’s 2015 return when he noticed some unusual transfers of money.
As town of Hope officials became more concerned about the fire department’s finances, Chandler said the matter was turned over to the Indiana State Police, which asked for the State Board of Accounts financial audit.
