Another mess in Colwyn

Eugene DePasquale did not mince words.

The state auditor general stopped by our Primos office yesterday to sit down with our editorial board and deliver some news on the troubled little burg of Colwyn.

DePasquale was releasing an audit of the Colwyn Borough Firefighter Relief Association, and he said he's never seen anything quite like it.

The audit disclosed more than $88,000 dollars in undocumented and unauthorized expenses.

Among the items that will raise eyebrows are $20,000 in bank cash withdrawals, including one withdraw for the tidy sum of $10,061. The audit also questions $2,500 in cable TV bills for the fire department, including a month when they paid out $2,000.

"This is the worst VFRA (Volunteer Firefighter Relief Association) we've ever seen," DePasquale said.

For that reason, the auditor general is cutting off all state aid to the Colwyn VFRA until the questionable expenses can be accounted for.

Both the borough and fire company books have been the targets of investigation by the county District Attorney's Office. DePasquale said he was sharing the audit information with Jack Whelan's team, and he expected we could hear from the D.A. some time this week. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, you can get all the details on the audit here.

If you want to read the full audit, go here.

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