The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the alleged misappropriation of $1.6 million and other malfeasance in Penn Forest Township.
The board of supervisors made the announcement at a public meeting Monday, alleging that previous boards and employees engaged in cover-ups to make residents believe the township was in good shape financially, when in reality it was floundering.
"This whole township is being investigated by the FBI, the same (agents) who went to Luzerne County. They are going to go through this whole accounting system from A to Z, starting from the auditors to the zoning department," Chairman Paul Montemuro said.
"We have been running negative numbers, and everyone thought we had millions," he said. "We've been flat broke for years."
Montemuro said he and his colleagues, seated in January, 2008, say they have uncovered what they describe as an elaborate web of deceit woven by previous boards and employees.
Supervisor Alan S. Katz offered as an example a parking facility that generated $286,614 in revenue that was listed in the 2006 audit report.
The parking lot never existed, he said.
As previous boards assured residents all was in order, the township was actually in the red. In 2007, the deficit came to $173,057. In 2008, it was $464,014. The deficits "snowballed," Mo