GEORGE RICHERT
WIVB
Reprinted with Permission
CATTARAUGUS, N.Y. (WIVB) - Two volunteer firefighters are charged in the disappearance of tens of thousands of dollars from the Cattaraugus Fire Department.
They ran the Bell Jar Ticket Game for the Department and now somewhere between $30,000 and $80,000 is missing.
39-year-old Edward Holtz of the village of Cattaraugus pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny for the taking at least $30,000 while running the Bell Jar Ticket Game to raise money for the Cattaraugus Volunteer Fire Department. The Treasurer of that Department, 52-year-old John Finnegan, was arrested last week and charged with offering a false instrument and filing false business records in the same case.
Only Holtz has pleaded guilty so far and he blames it on a gambling problem.
Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman said, "I don't know if that's true or not, that's just what he's saying, but it does seem to be getting more common and I'm not sure whether that's the economy or gambling or both, but unfortunately these volunteer organizations, it's hard because you don't know if somebody has a history of that and it's hard to find people that are willing to do it."
John Finnegan is due back in court Tuesday. Edward Holtz will be sentenced June 21st and could get anything from probation to one to three years in jail.
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