Lyons comments on embezzlement

Published 2:40 am Tuesday, March 25, 2008

By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Mayor Donald Lyons weighed in Monday night on the Dowagiac Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance Service embezzlement case.
Leading off the March 24 City Council meeting, the mayor commented, "We're well aware of what has been reported in the press. I would like to personally express my concern over the alleged embezzlement of almost $20,000 from the former Dowagiac Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance Service. I also feel the residents served by the former ambulance service deserve some comments on the part of the city in the hopes of providing some insight into this unfortunate situation.
"The former Dowagiac Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance Service, while combining both fire and ambulance volunteers, really provided two separate and distinct services, fire and ambulance," Lyons said. "The fire and ambulance volunteer groups were different persons with different training skills, even though they served under one umbrella organization. This organization operated independently from the city. The city had no responsibility for providing this group with any guidance or oversight. This volunteer group had its own board of directors and an ambulance director who was responsible for day-to-day management of the ambulance service.
"The volunteer firefighters operated under the guidance or oversight. This volunteer group had its own board of directors and an ambulance director who was responsible for day-to-day management of the ambulance service.
"The volunteer firefighters operated under the guidance and direction of the Dowagiac Fire Department only as it related to their firefighting duties," Lyons said. "Again, the City of Dowagiac had no legal authority over their organization or the conduct of their business affairs unless their board of directors or the ambulance director came to us, which they did on two occasions over a year ago when they needed short-term working capital loans, both of which have been repaid. The city and the Fire Department have no more access to their finances than we have to any other independently-owned and operated business in the city.
"I cannot be clear enough on the fact that without an invitation from the Dowagiac ambulance service to review their financials, we could not," the mayor stated. "Please keep in mind, there were many honest and caring individuals in the former Dowagiac Fire Department Ambulance Service of whom we can be proud. They should not be condemned for the actions of others. These individuals had their focus on patient care and firefighting – not on managing their business affairs.
"Please do not let this one unfortunate situation define the years of proud service that the many members of Dowagiac Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Service have given to our community," Lyons said. "Since the changeover in ambulance service on March 1" from Life EMS, which assumed management on March 22, 2007, to Coloma Emergency Medical Services (CEMS), "Volunteer firefighters have reorganized as Dowagiac Volunteer Fire Department. It is time to move forward and focus on the future. This group of firefighters is providing a much-needed and valuable service to our community. They need and deserve our support."
Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz March 17 announced office manager Kathy McFadden of Hartford faces seven felony charges for allegedly embezzling $19,785.11 between Jan. 4, 2007, and Dec. 24, 2007, by repeated fraudulent ATM card use that encompassed 59 transactions in Cass, Berrien, Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties and Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, as well as the Internet.
A Fourth District Court preliminary examination of evidence had been scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.