ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601080013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
An audit of the Salem Rescue Squad's books back to 1992 has revealed more than $12,000 in undocumented squad transactions.
City Manager Randy Smith has suggested that if the squad cannot resolve the discrepancies, the matter should be handed over to state police for an investigation.
A report given to Salem City Council and the rescue squad on Friday listed 20 questionable transactions.
Most were in the form of checks, ranging from $100 to $3,776, that were written on squad accounts but with no explanation as to what business purpose they had.
Other transactions included checks from the state that appear not to have been deposited into squad accounts.
The rescue squad asked the city in March to pay for the audit after former squad chief and former City Councilman Garry Lautenschlager was investigated for taking money from the squad's Wiley Fund, which was established with about $20,000 in 1986 in memory of paramedic David Wiley.
Lautenschlager was convicted in July of taking more than $20,000 from the fund during a three-year period that included his first seven months on City Council.
Several of the checks on the audit list were written to Lautenschlager and his wife, Shirley. Two of the checks under question were for $900 each.
Salem Rescue Squad Chief John Beach said the squad will consult with its attorney before deciding what action it might take.
"We want to be fair to all parties," Beach said.
State police investigated the Wiley Fund in February but did not investigate other accounts that were a part of the city-funded audit.
State police did investigate the squad's Good Neighbor Fund, which was established to provide money to people in the community who could not pay their medical expenses. Former squad Chief Earl Ray Houff Jr. later was found guilty of stealing more than $1,900 from that fund.
Lautenschlager could not be reached for comment. His attorney, John Gregory Jr., said he received a copy of the audit Friday but that he had not yet had time to review it. Gregory, however, said he believes the report means only that there is insufficient documentation for the transactions in question.
"Any inference beyond that is unfounded at this time," he said.
After Salem City Council approved the audit in March, Roanoke accounting firm Brown Edwards & Co. spent two months compiling a list of discrepancies in the squad's books.
The company spent the next seven months investigating those discrepancies and narrowed the list to the 20 transactions that were delivered Friday to Smith.
One transaction in question is a check for $1,145.56, paid in 1992 to the rescue squad by the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services.
The money was to be used to buy a display board, the report said. A check was issued to buy the item, but there was no record that the check from the state was deposited into the squad's account.
The report also questioned a check for $367 paid to Paramount's Carowinds, an amusement park in Charlotte, N.C. No documentation was found to support the purpose of the check.
City Council will discuss the audit report Monday at its regular meeting.
Smith said the city will have no other involvement in deciding what action should be taken next.
"It's their money and their decision," Smith said.
The city gives about $90,000 a year to the squad, but that money is audited annually by the city.
The city will continue to audit all of the squad's books annually.
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