Bucks ambulance group's bookkeeper charged with theft

[EMT City Administrator]

By Chris Palmer, The Philadelphia Inquirer

March 13--The bookkeeper of the Warrington Community Ambulance Corps was charged Monday with stealing nearly $650,000 from the agency over several years to fund her trips to casinos, according to police records.

Danette Lewchick, 56, of Jamison, the agency's financial secretary, systematically stole money between January 2008 and July 2012, the records say, by writing checks to herself and withdrawing money from the agency's bank accounts, often at ATMs within Parx Casino in Bensalem.

The checks and withdrawals ranged from $600 to $25,000, records say. All told, the theft allegedly amounted to $642,741 over the course of about 41/2 years. According to the most recently available financial reports, the agency took in about $1 million per year in revenue between 2008 and 2010. Of that figure, almost $700,000 came from ambulance fees. An additional $240,000 represented public grants.

Marc J. Furber, an assistant district attorney, said Lewchick's alleged theft was "staggering," adding, "especially considering we're talking about a community organization that relies on public funds and donations."

Lewchick's attorney, Jeffrey Solar, did not return calls for comment.

The attorney for the agency, Grace Deon, said that Lewchick has not been fired but that she has not gone in to work for the agency since the financial malfeasance was discovered in July.

Lewchick has a history with gambling. According to a 2005 filing in Bankruptcy Court, Lewchick, who at the time went by the name Danette Albanese, claimed losses totaling nearly $40,000 to Harrah's, Borgata, and Trump casinos. She also had $200,000 in debt relating to four mortgages and an automobile loan, and owed around $100,000 to various individuals in personal loans, the filings say.

Deon said the agency was unaware of Lewchick's financial history when she was hired. Lewchick was made the primary bookkeeper in 2008, according to police records.

Lewchick's stepmother, Jennifer Lewchick, is the agency's chairwoman, but both Deon and Furber said there was no indication that anyone else knew about Danette Lewchick's actions.

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Contact Chris Palmer, 609-217-8305, cpalmer@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter, @cs_palmer

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