ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
The Salem Rescue Squad has turned over to state police an audit report of its books that found more than $13,500 in undocumented squad transactions.
But before doing so, the squad was able to determine where $3,776 of that money went, said Chief Mike Moore.
The money was used to purchase medical supplies from a Connecticut company, Moore said. The auditors had found the canceled check but could not determine for what it was used.
Squad leaders still are trying to come up with documentation for several other transactions they believe were legitimate, such as a check for $1,145 from the state that was used to purchase a display board.
At its meeting in January, the approximately 60-member rescue squad voted to allow its nine elected officials to decide whether to ask state police to investigate.
"We've about exhausted our resources, so we thought it would be best to let the state police get to the bottom of this," Moore said.
Nineteen transactions since 1992, totaling more than $10,000, remain in question.
Several of the transactions are checks written to former city councilman and rescue squad chief Garry Lautenschlager, who was convicted in July of taking more than $20,000 from the squad's Wiley Fund.
Lautenschlager's 10-year jail sentence was suspended in January. He is serving 300 hours of community service for that crime.
Salem City Council agreed in March to fund the audit after the rescue squad asked it to do so.
Since then, the squad has hired a professional bookkeeper.
State police investigated the Wiley Fund in February but not the accounts that were examined in the city-funded audit.
The Wiley Fund was used for scholarships to students going into the medical profession.
State police also investigated 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.
The state police investigator most familiar with the case could not be reached Wednesday night for comment.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB