District Attorney Denis Dillon announced the arrest of Webster and two other fire officials, one from Syosset and the other from Great Neck, at a press conference last Thursday in Mineola. "By abusing their positions for their own personal enrichment," Dillon said, "these defendants have violated the trust of their communities. Worse, their actions are a betrayal of the thousands of dedicated volunteer firefighters throughout Nassau County who give of themselves to protect us all."
According to Dillon, Webster allegedly made an undisclosed number of unauthorized withdrawals from department accounts between Aug. 16, 2000, and Nov. 13, 2001, totaling $6,222.59. "He used [the funds] to cover personal expenses," said Dillon, who has charged Webster with one count of third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony punishable by up to 7 years in prison.
Dillon also announced the arrest of Robert E. Hoey, 49, a former trustee of the Great Neck Alert Fire Department, accusing him of using the fire department-s credit card to steal more than $90,000. Also arrested was Richard Meinhardt, 60, a commissioner of the Syosset Fire District, who Dillon says submitted falsified documents in an attempt to obtain Firefighters Workers- Compensation benefits he was not entitled to.
"Fire departments are particularly vulnerable," said case supervisor and Assistant District Attorney Patrick McCormack, referring to the large amounts of expenditures and money fire departments need for daily operations. "They have to be very serious about their auditing procedures."
According to Franklin Square Fire Commissioner Dennis Lyons, there are very defined protocols within the department when it comes to expenditures. "Everything requires the signature of two of the four officers in each company," said Lyons, pointing out that the allegations occurred with the Emergency Medical Services only, one of six companies within the department, each of which has its own set of officers. "After that, we have a yearly audit."
While Lyons could not comment on the investigation any further than to say that the department is cooperating fully with the district attorney's office, he did say that Webster had not worked for the department in "over two and a half years," and he believed Webster had resigned by the end of 2001. This timeline coincides with the end date of the D.A.'s investigation.
"It's just a shame that this has to be in the news, instead of all of the great things this department does," said Lyons, who added that nothing like this, to his knowledge, had ever come up in the department's history.
Despite the allegations, the National Fraud Information Center cites donations made directly to volunteer fire departments as among the most efficiently used charitable funds in the country.
Webster was arraigned Friday at First District Court in Hempstead, and subsequently released on his own recognizance. Neither he nor his lawyer could be reached for comment on the charges.
