After more than 25 years with the Mora County Volunteer Fire Department, Dennis Romero, who most recently served as the fire chief, was fired and accused of embezzlement.
After this week's firing, the gates to the fire department building were chained and locked for about 24 hours while inventory was taken inside.
Romero told 4 Investigates that he and other volunteer members were “treated like thieves.” He said he had been fired and accused of embezzling roughly $280,000. Romero denied any accusations of fraud and said, “I don’t have access to that kind of money.” This comes off the heels of a months-long internal investigation into the fire department’s finances.
“It was really kind of a slush fund,” said Mora County attorney Michael Aragon.
Aragon said the county’s suspicions started with a questionable purchase made in May of 2018. Roughly $1,500 was reimbursed to the fire chief’s daughter, Denise Duran, for luxury flooring. The red flag was in the paperwork provided to county officials: the invoice number was “1234” which investigators deemed suspect.