| Probe begins with phone call 2-year investigation in Colorado City reveals startling purchases | ||
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By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner | ||
KINGMAN - A phone call about a dinner and a credit card set off a two-year investigation by the County Attorney's Office and generated a laundry list of thousands of dollars worth of items allegedly purchased for personal use with funds from the Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City fire districts. The investigation culminated in the April 6 search of the two cities' fire district offices and the homes of CCFD Fire Chief Jake Barlow and Colorado City Manager David Darger. According to an affidavit filed with the Mohave County Superior Court April 5 and signed by Judge Rick Williams, the items included dinners, some exceeding $200, in St. George, Utah; $575 worth of candy gift boxes; invoices for 35 gift certificates to a Colorado City gas station and Garden Gate, Inc. (a business owned by Darger); numerous purchases at the Cooperative Mercantile, the only general store in Colorado City; around $23,000 spent between May 2003 and September 2008 at Costco for furniture, food, iPods and accessories and other electronics; around $14,000 spent at Sam's Club between January 2007 and September 2008 for more food, furniture, clothing and electronics; out-of-state trips and hundreds of dollars in tax software and computer equipment. The investigation also turned up two bank accounts and six credit cards held by the CCFD in addition to its lawful County Treasurer's warrant account. The warrant account is supposed to hold all of the taxes collected by the district and supposed to be used to pay all of the district's expenses. The CAO believes the purchases were for personal items and the money used to make the purchases may have come from the district's warrant account. The office is investigating Barlow and Darger for felony fraudulent schemes and artifices and felony misuse of public moneys as custodians of such moneys. According to the affidavit, on Jan. 17, 2008, a county Office of Management and Budget employee received a call from a restaurant owner in St. George. The owner reported that Barlow had used a fire district's credit card to purchase dinner for his family. On Feb. 12, 2008, Deputy County Attorney James Schoppmann called Barlow and filed a public records request for the district's bank and credit card statements. Barlow requested to meet with Schoppmann in person because he felt that people might not understand the agreements between Hildale, Colorado City and the two fire districts. Employees for the district work part time for the fire department and part time for the city, Barlow explained. The first pile of records received April 18, 2008, by the County Attorney's Office showed numerous purchases to the Mercantile, dinners in St. George, gift certificates, candy and invoices indicating that fire district personnel were charging food to the district. Articles published in the Miner in December 2009 and January 2010 state that CCFD firefighters are not required to sleep or eat at the fire stations. According to the affidavit, a 14-year veteran of the CCFD confirmed to the County Attorney's Office that the district does not have sleeping quarters or a full kitchen. Food was only provided during search and rescue events or large fires. When Schoppmann asked about two other bank accounts used by the CCFD, the district's attorney said he was unaware of any other accounts. According to the affidavit, the CAO had to subpoena other financial records from several financial entities. A second records request was made on May 19, 2008, for sales receipts from Costco and Sam's Club and records for three months of ambulance runs for the district to determine if the purchases could have been made for the district. The CCFD refused to release the information on the ambulance runs, stating medical record confidentiality. On June 4, 2008, Schoppmann e-mailed the department's attorney asking about the records request and asking him to verify if a rumor that Barlow had repaid the district was correct. He asked for records of any possible repayments made to the district by Barlow. On June 10, 2008, Schoppmann received an e-mail from the attorney stating that Barlow had not used district funds or credit cards for personal expenses. In April 2009, Schoppmann e-mailed Darger and Barlow asking them to meet with him and an investigator. Darger directed him to the district's new attorney in Anthem. That attorney told Schoppmann to submit his questions in writing. The attorney told Schoppmann in June 2009 that the CAO could put in a public records request and the district would comply, as long as the request was not unduly burdensome. A request was filed and the CAO received bank account records indicating that Barlow and Darger were the signers on the account and that Darger held the only check card for the account. The office also received credit card records. Several statements for one credit card showed multiple purchases to Turbo Tax from 2004 to 2009. According to Schoppmann, a fire district does not need tax software. Other records showed credit cards were used for a trip to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. This was in addition to $270 that was given to district personnel to cover all of the trip's expenses. According to the affidavit, the local Idaho fire districts told Schoppmann that they did not have any training events at the time. According to the affidavit, bank records also showed that Barlow and Darger were transferring money out of the district's warrant account with the County Treasurer's Office and into the two bank accounts. One transfer in December 2009 was around $10,000; another was made in January 2010 for $20,000. The County Attorney's Office believes the money transferred into the accounts was used to pay off the districts credit cards. Through the affidavit, the County Attorney's Office asked the court to issue a search warrant for any other records from Aug. 1, 2004, to April 4, 2010, that deal with the financial records of the district and of Darger and Barlow; records of travel expenses; district call logs; a list of CCFD employees; any electronic financial records or messages between Barlow and Darger and any documents, video or audio recordings of CCFD board meetings. The affidavit gave the County Attorney and Sheriff's offices six search warrants to raid four fire station buildings in Colorado City and Hildale and the homes of Barlow and Darger on April 6. Forensic computer experts from the Arizona Attorney General's Office and officers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety also assisted in the raid. According to a news release, the County Attorney's Office is not commenting on the affidavit or the search because of the ongoing investigation. The towns of Colorado City and Hildale are home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. | ||
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KingmanDailyMiner.com Originally published April 16, 2010 | ||
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