By John Speer

Editor

jspeer@tamatoledonews.com

WERE IN CHARGE OF SERVICE

The husband and wife team who headed up the Garwin Ambulance Service during the period July, 2010 to March 31, 2015, have now each been charged with 1st degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct.

Steven Eugene Boege, 59, identified in court records as the president of the service, and Karen Kae Boege, 58, identified as the organization’s secretary / treasurer, were cited in criminal complaints field Dec. 31 by Tama County Deputy Sheriff Bruce Rhoads.

Tama County District Court records on Thursday showed Marshalltown attorneys Chad Frese and Barry Kaplan had entered appearances for the Boeges on Jan. 5 but no other court action had yet occurred.

The alleged crimes first became public on Dec. 30 when State Auditor Mary Mosiman released a report of a special investigation which claimed a total of $13,551 in improper and unsupported disbursements and undepoited collections was found.

According to the auditor’s news release a total of $6,814.98 of improper disbursements identified includes $3,263 of cash withdrawals by Karen Boege, the Ambulance Service’s former Secretary/Treasurer; $1,392.22 of purchases from Wal-Mart; and $620 of payments to Steve Boege, the Ambulance Service’s former President.

The $6,385.63 of unsupported disbursements identified includes payments to vendors and payments to Mr. and Mrs. Boege. Mosiman also reported Mrs. Boege did not maintain supporting documentation for disbursements.

The $350 of undeposited collections identified includes cash withheld from a deposit made to the Ambulance Service’s checking account on October 16, 2012. Mosiman reported it is not possible to determine if additional amounts were improperly disbursed or if collections were not properly deposited because adequate records were not available.