Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Rumpke rewards county for cracking crime
Detective solved billing scam case
BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP — A $12,500 donation from Rumpke Inc. will be presented to Hamilton County officials today to show appreciation for a county criminal investigation last March that solved an internal embezzlement scam.
Three employees of a township-based firm were implicated in a billing scam that involved about $300,000, of which an estimated $220,000 was recovered, officials said.
Detective Sgt. Mike Horton led the investigation, “and he should be credited” with recovering thousands of dollars, said Shelly Sack, Rumpke Inc.'s communication coordinator.
“It's great on the part of Rumpke to put back (some funding) into the community as a way of appreciation,” said Col. Ray Hoffbauer, commander of the sheriff's road patrol and detectives division.
“Not only was (Detective Sgt. Horton) involved in a police investigation, but he also had to conduct a complicated internal investigation of (Rumpke's) billing system to discover how the theft was done and put two and two together. It was an involved scheme,” Col. Hoffbauer said.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said the three men claimed they were delivering mechanical parts to Rumpke. “In fact, there were no parts being supplied,” he said, and the company the men claimed was supplying the parts no longer existed.
Ms. Sack said the $80,000 not found “was spent in ways it could not be recovered.”
Of the three men implicat ed, two have been convicted of aggravated felony theft, and one remains at large on the same charge.
Mike Sloan, 31, of Hollow Wood Circle, Loveland, was indicted in November and remains a fugitive, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett.
Jeffrey Gardner, 26, of Chippenham Court, Colerain Township, pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced to a year in jail and probation.
Dale H. Bost, 31, of North Turtle Creek Drive, Fairfield, was placed on probation and ordered to perform communi ty service, Mr. Barnett said.
The donation, to be made to the Hamilton County commissioners during the board's meeting this morning, will be used to benefit the sheriff's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. It's aimed at educating young adults about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs and making good life choices.
Sheriff Simon Leis Jr., Chief Sheriff's Deputy Sean Donovan, Capt. Lloyd Zoellner, Col. Hoffbauer, Mr. Barnett and Detective Sgt. Horton will accept the check.
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