REPORT: OVER $300,000 STOLEN FROM FAIRFIELD GLADE VOL. FIRE. DEPT.
The Tennessee Comptroller released a full report today regarding the theft of money by the Fairfield Glade Volunteer Fire department’s former treasurer.
In the report, authorities say James Charles Botbyl wrote 64 fire department checks totaling $303,203 to one of his personal businesses, then deposited the money into the personal business accounts. The checks were written over ten-months between November 2017 and September 2018. Botbyl’s business never provided any property or services to the fire department that would justify the payments. Botbyl hid the theft from board members by limiting the amount of financial information they had access to. Board members would later discover the payments resulting in Botbyl being suspected of theft. Investigators say Botbyl periodically deposited personal funds into the fire department’s account that totaled $62,743 in an apparent effort to repay the stolen money. However it left a significant shortage.
In April 2019, the Cumberland County Grand Jury indicted Botbyl on one count of theft over $60,000. Botbyl pleaded guilty to that charge on June 19, 2019. Botbyl was sentenced to 8 years supervised probation and ordered to pay $239,559.78 in restitution to the Fairfield Glade Volunteer Fire Department.
To see the full comptrollers report, go to the following website:
