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Aug 21, 2008 1:24 pm US/Eastern
Former Bucks Co. FOP Officials Arrested For Thefts
NORRISTOWN (CBS 3) ―
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Former Bucks County FOP President Gerald Conaway (left) and former treasurer Katherine Leese are accused of stealing over $90,000.
CBS
The Bucks County District Attorney's office announced a pair of former Fraternal Order of Police officials have been arrested in connection with thefts from the organization.
District Attorney Michelle Henry said Officer Katherine Leese, a former Bucks County FOP Treasurer and retired Officer Gerald Conaway, former FOP president are accused of stealing funds from the Bucks County FOP Lodge 53 in Wrightstown Township.
The two allegedly transferred funds from the Lodge to their personal accounts.
"For somebody who's charged with the responsibility of upholding the law in their professional lives and then they're elected by fellow police officers in an organization such as the Fraternal Order of Police, to then have the audacity to take this money not once, not twice, but over and over again…it's just astounding," Henry said.
Conaway is accused of stealing approximately $5,500 while Leese is said to have taken a bulk of the funds, about $87,000.
Henry said Leese apparently used some of the stolen funds to pay down credit card debts and a portion of her mortgage.
The funds were used by the FOP to help support families of officers killed or injured in the line of duty. The money is often collected through community fundraisers.
Both Leese and Conaway are expected to be arraigned sometime Thursday afternoon.
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