Lehigh Twp. firefighter charged with stealing $315,000

A former Allentown police officer and volunteer firefighter is being charged with stealing $315,000 from the Lehigh Township Fire Deaprtment.

According to Lehigh Township Police, Corey Edward Cole Jr., 40, of Lehigh Township, was charged today with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, 211 count 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.

The charges stem from an investigation that began on Aug. 7, 2018, when the Lehigh Township Fire Department reported a theft of money from the Fireman’s Relief Fund. The investigation, which culminated with an audit by the PA Auditor General’s Office, discovered that between January 2011 through Aug. 7, 2018, that a member of the Fire Department, Corey Cole Jr., had been falsifying document and stealing funds that totaled $315,221.68.

The breakdown included $19,878.73 from checks written to pay fictitious vendor invoices, $211,730 from checks written to the former treasurer, $73,745.21 from debit card expenditures and $9,580 from checks written by the former treasurer to vendors for non-relief association purposes.

“I applaud the Lehigh Township VFRA’s leadership for bringing the alleged theft to my attention last summer,” Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said. “My office worked with local law enforcement to help the investigation. Last week my team provided the local police department with a report outlining 377 instances of alleged theft amounting to nearly $315,000 in funds missing between 2011 and 2018.”

“The association’s current leadership has been very cooperative in our efforts to account for the tax dollars it has received,” DePasquale added.

Police received the official audit last week.

The investigation alleges that Cole had forged 211 checks and completed 165 fraudulent transactions with an ATM/Credit card linked to the Lehigh Township Fire Department Fireman’s Relief Fund account.

Cole is scheduled to turn himself in for a preliminary arraignment at 11 a.m. Friday at District Court in Lehigh Township. Cole was discharged from the fire company. He is also a former police officer with the City of Allentown.