By Eric Mark
The Citizens’ Voice
PLAINS TWP., Pa. — A Plains Township man used a catering business as a front to embezzle more than $100,000 from the township ambulance association, according to police.
Paul Zabriski, 58, was arraigned Thursday on one felony count of theft by unlawful taking.
The charge stems from a years-long investigation into a reported theft of funds from the Plains Township Volunteer Ambulance Association, according to a news release from the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.
The state Attorney General’s Office in June 2012 received a complaint that Zabriski — who ran a catering business out of the ambulance association’s banquet facility on Moffatt Street — misappropriated funds that should have been deposited into the association’s bank accounts, the news release states.
Zabriski served as treasurer of both the ambulance association and the banquet facility, according to prosecutors.
He was removed as treasurer in January 2016 after the accusations against him came to light, according to Angela Patla, operations manager for the ambulance association, a private non-profit organization.
Last year the county district attorney’s office and Plains Township police took over the investigation and determined that Zabriski had taken $116,302.88 for his own personal use that should have been given to the ambulance association, the news release states.
A forensic audit revealed that Zabriski misappropriated the funds between 2011 and 2014, according to a criminal complaint filed by Plains Township police.
According to the complaint, Zabriski reached an agreement with the ambulance association to manage and operate the banquet facility. He established himself as the exclusive caterer for the facility, then devised a calculation to split proceeds from events held at the banquet facility between his catering business and the facility, the complaint states.
Zabriski billed all events through his catering business and personally collected the funds, but did not deposit the designated amounts to the banquet facility’s accounts, according to the complaint. He attempted to conceal the theft by depositing funds paid to the ambulance association into the banquet facility’s accounts, the complaint states.
Zabriski, when interviewed by police, admitted he kept money for his own use that should have been deposited into the ambulance association’s bank accounts, according to the criminal complaint.
Following his arraignment, Zabriski was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 6 before Magisterial District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo.
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