Town supervisor: Suffolk DA probing North Amityville Fire Company spending, considering criminal charges
The North Amityville Fire Company, shown Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Suffolk prosecutors are investigating whether to bring criminal charges against North Amityville Fire Company's former leaders after a state audit last month revealed nearly $586,000 in "inappropriate" and "unsupported" spending, according to Babylon's top elected official.
The Babylon Town taxpayer funds in question included about $5,000 for a Caribbean trip for the now-former chief and his wife, the former board secretary, at a "clothing-optional resort" and about $5,000 more for gold and diamond rings for the pair, the audit showed last month.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office has been in contact with town officials and a probe is underway, Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer told Newsday in an exclusive interview.
Tania Lopez, a spokeswoman for Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, said she "cannot confirm or deny" if an investigation is taking place.
But Schaffer added: “That evidence is now being reviewed by the Suffolk DA and they’ll make a determination whether there’s enough evidence to bring criminal charges and I have the utmost confidence in DA Tierney’s office that if they’re able to, they will."
The Babylon supervisor said the town also has implemented tighter controls over how North Amityville and other volunteer fire agencies the town contracts with report their expenses when seeking approval for budgets.
This year the town has contracts totaling $18.2 million for fire protection and emergency medical services with nine fire companies, including the North Amityville company, whose budget is $3.4 million. The company's 20 firefighters are volunteers, but the outfit relies on four paid EMTs and paramedics for medical calls.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office said upon releasing the results from its audit of the fire company's spending between January 2017 and December 2018 that the findings were shared "with outside law enforcement."
A spokesman for DiNapoli said this week that the comptroller's findings were referred to Tierney's office. At Newsday's request, he also released the identities of former fire company leaders connected to questionable expenditures — names not included in the audit.
None of them are active fire company members.
They are: former board chair Jimmie McGruder, former board vice chair Sidney Gellineau, former board secretary Ben Lamberson, former board members Shelley Henry, Jeff Dixon and Aquinas Nelson, and former company Chief Aaron Collins along with his wife, former board secretary Margaret McGruder-Collins. She is McGruder's daughter.
McGruder-Collins declined to comment and her husband and father couldn't be reached. Gellineau also declined to comment. Lamberson, Henry, Dixon and Nelson couldn't be reached.
The audit found that more than 16% of the company's $3.6 million in disbursements in the time period examined were either improper or had no receipts, invoices or other documentation to back up purchases.
Among findings in the audit, which began in 2019, were expenditures of:
- More than $100,000 in cash to six board members and Collins
- $6,004 for Henry’s Alaskan cruise with his spouse
- $4,849 for Collins and McGruder-Collins' trip to a "clothing-optional resort" in Jamaica
- $5,121 for gold and diamond rings for Collins and McGruder-Collins
- $32,093 for service to vehicles not registered to the fire company
- $5,703 in department store purchases for a Christmas party, including a smartwatch and drones
- $44,820 for flights and lodging in locations including Las Vegas, Nashville, Dallas and Indianapolis
- $7,239 on alcohol
Schaffer said it was in 2016 that the town first learned of possible fiscal improprieties in operations of the company, which is incorporated as a not-for-profit, and referred the information to the district attorney's office, Newsday reported last year.
No charges resulted.
In 2021, the town had its human resources consultant, John Coverdale, investigated allegations that included bullying, retaliation and sexual harassment after violence broke out at a company board election in December 2020.
Coverdale concluded most of the allegations were true, telling Newsday last year: "In my nearly 35 years of dealing with workplace issues, this has got to rank in the top five to date of absurdities."
In January 2022, Babylon canceled its contract with the North Amityville company for two months due to response times that stretched to more than an hour, along with allegations of financial mismanagement.
In those two months, neighboring fire departments answered emergency calls in the community. Fire company members also voted at that time to oust those in control and elect new personnel to the five-member board.
Current board member Rashada Delaney, an EMT who joined the company in 2019, said there was "zero transparency" under the former leadership.
"They didn't care if membership voted for something or didn’t, which made it very difficult for the right things to be done or to know exactly what was being done," she said.
Delaney, 47, is the first woman to serve on the board. She said it's common for fire companies to budget for members to attend industry conventions and outside training.
“You can definitely go to Orlando for a convention because it is additional training,” she said, offering a typical scenario. “However, are you supposed to stay in the most extravagant hotel room? No. Are you supposed to fly first class? No.”
Current board member Larry Krumenacker, 68, who has been with the company since 1976, said rumors about extravagant spending started decades ago.
He said former board members ran the company like a “fiefdom,” allowing those “in their clique” to take trips and “have things a little easier” while those who questioned their decisions found themselves blacklisted.
“The thoughts were ‘We’re risking our lives for the community, we can spend the community’s and the taxpayers’ money as we wish,’” Krumenacker said.
Fire company members elected Delaney and Krumenacker to the board last year. Both said the outfit has adopted new bylaws and policies to ensure a system of checks and balances.
FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb, whom the town hired last year at a $45,000 annual salary to supervise a company revamp, said no one was “totally surprised” by the audit findings.
But Leeb said it represents a culture of the past. He said the focus now is on training and rebuilding after membership numbers plummeted during the height of the company’s dysfunction.
“It’s a new day in North Amityville,” Leeb said. “...The finances got them into hot water, but they needed improvement in several different areas.”
Town spokesman Ryan Bonner said the company’s response times have “drastically improved” and now are “consistent with any other department." In 2021, the North Amityville Fire Company's average response time was 3:55 minutes three. This year it is 1:50 minutes.
Krumenacker said he and other members were relieved to see the audit findings.
“Let them catch these people and bring the full force of the law to them,” the board member said. “They knew what they were doing and that they shouldn’t be doing it this way.”
TIMELINE
2016 - North Amityville Fire Company members alerted Babylon officials of possible fiscal improprieties and other problems. Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer referred information to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
January 2019 - State comptroller began audit of fire company's 2017-2018 expenditures.
December 2020 - Violence erupted at a fire company election, prompting Babylon to have its human resources consultant investigate the incident and other allegations.
March/April 2021 - The District Attorney's Office issued subpoenas to the town for fire company records. The town's consultant concluded one board member and two officers should be suspended or removed and one employee should be terminated, but members took no action.
December 2021 - Internal charges from the election incident led a hearing officer to find board chairman Jimmie McGruder guilty of misconduct and issue a 90-day suspension. Members said the penalty was never enacted. Later that month, the board suspended a chief for 90 days and two assistant chiefs walked off in protest. The board also terminated 11 members, leaving only five active members.
Jan. 5, 2022 - After a call about a woman with trouble breathing, North Amityville was still trying to put together a response crew more than an hour later, police records supplied by the town showed. The records also showed response times on other calls reached 38 to 45 minutes.
Jan. 7, 2022 - The town canceled North Amityville Fire Company's contract, citing not only "lack of timely response time, but allegations of mismanagement of funds, sexual harassment, violence," and the company's "failure to act upon these allegations." Later in January, members voted to oust the board and elect new leaders.
February 2022 - The town hired FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Frank Leeb to oversee a rebuilding of the fire company. The town paid four neighboring fire departments to answer the company's calls in January and February. The town also contracted with Stony Brook University Hospital to provide a staffed ambulance for North Amityville.
March 1, 2022 - North Amityville resumed emergency responses.
April 2023 - A state comptroller’s audit revealed “inappropriate” and “unsupported’ spending of $585,792 from 2017 to 2018 and sent its findings to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
May 2023 - Babylon's supervisor said the Suffolk district attorney is investigating whether criminal charges will be filed against former company leaders.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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