May 10, 2023 A former chief and board members of North Amityville Fire Department spent more than $500,000 of taxpayers’ money on personal purchases.
Source Firehouse.com News
An Alaska cruise, hotels, gifts, a trip to a clothing-optional Jamaican resort, diamond rings, and tickets to basketball games are among things North Amityville fire officials enjoyed on taxpayers’ dime.
An investigator with the New York comptroller’s office unveiled lavish personal spending with no oversight, according to CBS New York.
“We had been given this information by people in the department who were very upset by the fact that they were there to save lives. They weren’t there to allow this kind of thing to go on,” Babylon Town Supervisor Richard Schaffer told a reporter.
A former chief and six of his board members allegedly spent more than $500,000.
A criminal probe is ongoing.
When the lavish spending spree came to light, the firehouse was shut down for two months to clean house.
“We enacted procedures that create significant accountability, financial accountability and codes of ethics, so these types of things will never happen again,” said Brad Pinsky, the attorney for the North Amityville Fire Department.
“Number one goal right now is to just make sure that everyone’s safe in the community, make sure that we serve the community properly. No more expenditures for extravagant trips or anything like that,” said Rashada Delany, North Amityville’s new volunteer fire commissioner.