HAMBDEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A longtime fire official for Hambden Township stole about $1.6 million from the township’s nonprofit fire organization over more than three years and spent the money covering gambling losses, prosecutors announced Monday.

Richard L. Vandevander, 59, former assistant fire chief and treasurer for Hambden Volunteer Fire Department Inc., was indicted by a Geauga County grand jury on five felony charges.

Vandevander faces first-degree felony charges of aggravated theft and telecommunications fraud, along with third-degree felony charges of money laundering, falsification in a theft offense and forgery. The indictment says the theft occurred from Jan. 9, 2023, through May 15, 2026.

Prosecutors said Vandevander embezzled approximately $1.6 million through a series of transfers and checks he wrote to himself.

When checks required additional signatures, prosecutors accuse Vandevander of forging them. He also provided financial information from QuickBooks that omitted the transfers and checks payable to himself, according to the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office.

About $800,000 of the money allegedly stolen came from a $2 million state grant awarded for construction of Hambden’s new fire station, prosecutors said.

About $1.2 million of the state grant had been properly spent on costs related to the fire station project. Prosecutors say the remaining roughly $800,000 was included in the theft.

A separate federal grant of approximately $6.7 million is handled differently. The U.S. Department of Agriculture holds those funds and releases money as construction bills are submitted, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the extent of the nonprofit’s financial problems became clear shortly before the theft was publicly disclosed.

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Vandevander allegedly prepared a financial statement showing a balance of $821,207.52 in state grant funds as of July 19. The actual balance was $4,330.58, according to prosecutors.

By July 31, all of the fire organization’s accounts combined contained $12,731.23, roughly half of the payroll that was due Aug. 2, prosecutors said.

Investigators believe the stolen money was spent covering gambling losses and that most, if not all, of the gambling occurred at JACK Thistledown Racino in North Randall, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The indictment identifies for the first time the person accused in a theft that has put the finances of Hambden Volunteer Fire Department Inc. under scrutiny.

The nonprofit announced in late July that a longtime employee called Fire Chief Scott Hildenbrand on July 27, admitted taking a “large amount of money” and resigned that day.

Hildenbrand, who also serves as Geauga County sheriff, reported the suspected theft to the prosecutor’s office, according to prosecutors.

Vandevander had served with the fire organization for nearly four decades. The department previously said he joined in 1987 and worked his way through the ranks, serving as lieutenant and captain before becoming assistant chief.

He also held a key financial role as treasurer. The nonprofit’s 2024 federal tax return identifies Vandevander as both assistant chief and treasurer.

His name was no longer visible on the organization’s leadership page after the theft was announced.

The indictment comes after cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reported on other problems involving the nonprofit’s financial records and oversight.

Hildenbrand has said years of federal tax returns significantly overstated what the nonprofit paid him. The filings reported roughly $90,000 in annual compensation from 2021 through 2024, while his 2024 W-2 shows $24,980 in wages from the nonprofit.

Hildenbrand said the federal figures were inaccurate and that he did not know why the higher amounts were reported.

Hambden Volunteer Fire Department Inc. is separate from Hambden Township and contracts with the township to provide fire and emergency medical services.

Under its 2026 contract, the township is scheduled to pay the nonprofit $792,750. Township Trustee Dave Johnson previously told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that the township has never received itemized spending reports required under that agreement.

Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said his office assigned a team of investigators, attorneys and interns to the case and that the investigation remains ongoing.

Flaiz said prosecutors are confident Vandevander was the only person who committed theft but that investigators are continuing to examine every aspect of the case.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Vandevander. He will be arraigned in Geauga County Common Pleas Court after he is arrested or turns himself in.

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