A suspended tax collector who admitted to using money from a firefighters’ health care fund to pay a personal credit card paid the money back and will not face criminal charges, the Target 12 Investigators have learned.
Timothy Griffin, who was also a longtime firefighter and fire chief in Lincoln’s Lonsdale fire district, was suspended as the tax collector last September after a fiscal review of the district’s troubled finances “identified improprieties related to use of health care funds.” According to the document, the health care fund covered the firefighters in all of the town’s fire districts but “Lonsdale officials were responsible to receive, maintain, distribute and account for payments on behalf of the participating districts.”
The document stated that a total of about $40,000 was transferred from the fund to the Lonsdale district account without explanation.
According to Rhode Island State Police Major Joe Philbin, the investigation determined Griffin used $3,645 from the health care fund to pay off a personal credit card.
“But it was immediately paid back,” Major Philbin said. “As far as we know, this incident was a one-time occurrence and the Lonsdale Fire District continues to analyze their records to see if there are any further discrepancies. This is why the complaint remains open.”