Lehigh police chief describes firefighter’s theft of funds

Despite a request for unsecured bail by his attorney, a former Lehigh Township firefighter and Allentown police officer was sent to Northampton County Prison on Friday morning in lieu of $100,000 cash.

Corey Cole, 41, turned himself in Friday morning and was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Robert Hawke on charges he stole over $315,000 from the Lehigh Township Fireman’s Relief Fund.

Cole is charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, 211 counts of forgery, 165 counts of access device fraud, tampering with public records, all felony charges, and one misdemeanor charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

“This is one of the biggest betrayals of public trust you can have,” said Lehigh Township Police Chief Scott Fogel.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Cole, who was treasurer of the relief fund, texted Travis Wuchter, the fund’s vice president, and admitted to stealing money. Wuchter also had a copy of a recent bank statement showing unauthorized purchases and personal bills paid by Cole.

Cole turned over all records from the relief fund and other fire department records and property to Lehigh Township police.

Police showed Wuchter and relief fund President John Hammel copies of checks that had Hammel and Cole’s signatures on them. Hammel said he never signed the checks, and Cole forged his signature.

An audit from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office showed Cole made unauthorized purchases, wrote checks to himself and paid bills from the relief fund without authorization.

The fake invoices spanned from Jan. 1, 2011 to Aug. 7, 2018.

Cole also faked invoices for equipment purchases. A check of an invoice number Cole provided for a purchase from Witmer Public Safety Group showed it actually belonged to a purchase made by another fire company.

The equipment listed on the invoice was also not in Lehigh Township’s possession.

Police did a forensic exam on Cole’s computer, which showed Cole had cleaned out the hard drive.

Cole admitted to police that he created fake invoices and bank statements to cover up unauthorized purchases. He also admitted to taking money through ATM withdrawals, writing checks to himself, and paying personal bills with relief fund money.

Greg Spang, Cole’s attorney, asked for unsecured bail, saying Cole met with officers quickly after this came to be and the lifelong area resident has been cooperative with the investigation.

“He is remorseful,” Spang said after Cole was taken away by constables. “He wants to do everything in his power to make this right. We weren’t sure what to anticipate today. We knew with the seriousness of the crime that bail might be an issue.”

Fogel argued that Cole began working with authorities, because the money was all gone.

“There was nowhere left to turn,” he said.

Cole resigned from his position with the Allentown Police Department in August 2018, around the time the investigation into the missing Lehigh Township money began.

On Friday, he told Hawke he took a position with AmeriCold logistics in Fogelsville, a cold storage company, in September 2018.

Relief fund money is used for a variety of purposes within fire companies including for training, insurance, gear, equipment, survivor benefits and more.

“Fire companies need this money desperately,” Fogel said. “This is no doubt going to have a far reaching impact.”

Asked what Cole spent the money on, Fogel said it appears to be nothing more than “selfish greed.”

“Police officers and firefighters, we’re charged with a public trust that is higher than just about anyone else,” Fogel said. “We take that very seriously. This is something that reflects on everyone in our profession. It makes things very complicated. All you have to do is read the social media comments at the end of the news stories to see what people think.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 26.