The office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, which recently won the conviction of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on corruption charges, has taken over the inquiry into the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department and its missing millions of dollars in taxpayer funds. Bharara’s involvement comes as The Journal News has learned of the extensive financial ties between Putnam County law enforcement and a company owned by Michael Klein, the department’s former treasurer, who resigned in late September as the investigation heated up. Other developments in the embezzlement inquiry include: The Town of Carmel cut the MVFD budget by $550,000 for 2016. The majority of the department’s Board of Commissioners do not live within the taxing jurisdiction served by the department. The MVFD declined to testify about the budget cuts, saying all discussion of fire department spending should be conducted in private. Klein, a member of the department since the late 1990s, was treasurer for more than a decade. Assisting him with the books was accountant Joel Rosenberg, of RRC Price & Co CPAs PC of Bardonia, who during Klein's tenure prepared the department’s annual financial statements and federal tax reports.