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First Posted: 8/1/2013 HARVEYS LAKE &#8212; Charges against three sewer authority employees who allegedly used agency accounts for a combined $800 worth of personal purchases will have no impact on borough finances, Council President Amy Williams said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the councilwoman whose family is at the center of the case spoke out against what she sees as a political vendetta advanced by a former rival.
General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake Executive Director Richard Boice, 66 &#8212; a former mayor &#8212; as well as son Jason Boice, 38, an authority foreman, and authority secretary Denise Sult, 61, were each charged Wednesday with two counts of theft and two counts of receiving stolen property in connection with household and automotive items they allegedly purchased in 2007 and 2008 using borough accounts.
&#8220;We are sympathetic to the fact that many of our residents will have questions regarding these charges,&#8221; Williams wrote in a statement to the media. &#8220;Please know that any information that is received by council will be shared with the residents of Harveys Lake Borough.&#8221;
&#8220;We will cooperate fully with authorities,&#8221; wrote Williams.
The alleged wrongdoing was brought to police attention four years ago by Charles Musial &#8212; then a borough council member and police officer, and now the police chief &#8212; who told investigators the authority stopped using him as a contracted sewer inspector in March 2009 after he filed a right-to-know request for records related to authority accounts.
Boice allegation
Councilwoman Michell&#8217;e Boice, wife of Richard and mother of Jason, said Thursday she believes the allegations are a case of sour grapes by Musial, who unsuccessfully sought appointment to the post of officer-in-charge when Richard Boice was mayor.
She believes the allegations were originally brought forward in 2009 to stymie her husband&#8217;s bid for re-election &#8212; which he lost &#8212; and the charges have come to the fore this summer as he is running for the mayoral post again this fall.
&#8220;My husband didn&#8217;t think (Musial) was qualified. He took offense, and he was hell-bent on revenge,&#8221; Michell&#8217;e Boice said.
A message left for Musial at the police department was not returned Thursday afternoon.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, Richard and Jason Boice and Sult all admitted to the purchases, but told investigators they reimbursed the authority for the items &#8212; although the paybacks ranged from immediately after the transactions to more than a year later.
Calls to authority solicitor Tom O&#8217;Connor were not returned Wednesday and Thursday.
Questions raised
Michell&#8217;e Boice questioned why it took four years to investigate $800 worth of purchases for which the authority had been reimbursed.
&#8220;If they were thieves, and they were on the take, don&#8217;t you think it would have been bigger? It would have been more than a battery and a quart of oil,&#8221; she said of her husband&#8217;s purchases, which troopers said amounted to $115.
Troopers said Jason Boice made $670 worth of purchases: $177 for a water pump and $492 for a furnace. Sult, meanwhile, was charged over $31.74 worth of purchases: $6.77 for a headlight and $24.97 for a fan.
The three were notified of the charges by mail from the office of District Judge James Tupper. Preliminary hearings in the case have been set for Sept. 5, court officials confirmed Thursday.
The affidavit indicated the defendants told police they used authority accounts for several reasons, from simple convenience to taking advantage of the authority&#8217;s tax-exempt status or seeking access to items that were only for sale to contractors and municipalities.
&#8220;Maybe that&#8217;s something that&#8217;s not right, but it&#8217;s something that&#8217;s done,&#8221; Michell&#8217;e Boice said. &#8220;The board was aware of it. After (the allegations) they stopped the practice.&#8221;
According to troopers, O&#8217;Connor advised Sult and the Boices after the allegations arose that anyone making personal purchases using authority accounts should reimburse the accounts by writing a check.
Attorney Peter Moses, who is representing Richard Boice, said his client maintains his innocence and believes the case is politically motivated. The other two defendants also have legal representation, Moses said.
Attorney Ferris Webby, who is representing Jason Boice, said he had not yet seen the affidavit on Thursday and declined comment on the charges. Efforts to reach an attorney for Sult were unsuccessful.Michell&#8217;e Boice said she was glad the charges would put to rest rumors that her family members were involved in large-scale graft.
&#8220;For four years, some people believed that tens of thousands of dollars were missing from the authority. It&#8217;s less than $1,000, and it&#8217;s not missing,&#8221; she said.
Despite the case, Richard Boice plans to continue his run for mayor, his wife said, even though &#8220;this will probably hurt his chances of success.&#8221;

Theft charges a vendetta, suspect’s wife says