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BURNHAM -- A local man faces felony charges after police said he stole more than $9,000 from the Burnham Fire Company.
Travis Alexander Bunch, 32, of Lewistown, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Jacqueline Leister Thursday on two counts of theft, both third-degree felonies.
According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, during an audit by the Pennsylvania Auditor General agents, it was found that about $3,000 was missing from the Burnham Fire Company's relief fund in September 2023. The report states that Bunch was responsible for the fund.
According to the report, as part of the audit, fire department officers began looking into other accounts associated with Bunch, who had also served as the chairman of the Central Pennsylvania FIreman's Raffle since 2018-19. The raffle encompasses seven other fire departments and operates under the Tri County Sportsman's Raffle.
The document states that the fire department was supplied with an allotment of calendars to sell and that they were to turn over all proceeds to the Tri County Association, then at the end of the raffle, the fire department would receive its share. The report says Bunch would not turn in funds for the calendars sold. The report states that Bunch admitted to taking about $8,850.
It was found that the Burnham Fire Company reported that it sold 113 calendars in 2022 to the Tri County Association, however, stubs for 302 calendars were found in the money bag.
This left 189 calendars not reported to the Tri County Association, which resulted in a loss of $4,725. The fire department's share for those calendars would have been $2,462.67 and the total owed to the Association would have been $2,262.33.
Furthermore, in 2022, the report states that Bunch claimed that he was owed $375 because he paid out of pocket to cover outdated checks turned into him for calendars.
According to the Affidavit, in 2023, 207 calendars were sold for a total of $5,175, but only $928 was turned into the Tri County Association. The report says the fire department still paid the amount owed, putting them at a loss for those funds.
The report says it is unknown how many calendars were sold and unrecorded in total
Bunch was arrested in lieu of $20,000 unsecured bail. He is awaiting a preliminary hearing, set for 9 a.m. March 6.